Magical ScienceBros? Book 1
by saigaday
Summary: Tony's first year at the National Academy for the Teaching of Occult Qualities has him run into some interesting characters including the lonely Bruce Banner and the mysterious Demon Lady. The recent death of the highest ranking wizard in the realm has got tensions on the rise, thrusting Tony into a life of drama, secrecy and danger...
1. Chapter 1

**Book 1 **

**Chapter 1**

"Oh my God is that Howard Stark!?"

"It is...No way does that mean TONY is going to be in my class."

"He's such a hottie. How am I supposed to get work done knowing that Tony fucking Stark is sleeping in the same building?"

"And showering...naked... Om nom nom..."

Jane laughed at the group of fangirls swarming the Starks as they attempted to have a family moment (most likely crafted from start to finish as a publicity stunt). Tony had a surprisingly anxious look on his face, which was uncharacteristic for the child of the wizarding world's most successful businessman. But she mused that even billionaire playboys must have a tough time leaving home. Jane could still remember how hard it was leaving her parents earlier that morning.

"Bye mom, bye dad. I'll miss you guys so much. I cannot wait until I get to come home for winter break," Jane had sobbed into her parents' arms. "I'll send you an owl every day."

"We love you so much sweetie!" her mom gushed. "You're growing up so fast, it's hard for us to keep up."

"Too fast." her dad interrupted emotionally, "You're only fifteen and you're trucking off to another country... or I guess I mean another part of the country. It's so hard for us "muggles" to keep track of everything that's happening now that you've been blessed with this gift. To think, that you're heading off to the National Academy so you can become a professional wizard person! We just hope you won't forget your boring old parents."

"We got you something to remember us by." her mom said, handing her a cell phone. "If you ever need to talk to us or anything just give us a ring."

"Oh guys, you really didn't have to."

"Of course we did. You're our only child! God forbid that we would let you leave without being able to contact you every second of every day."

"I love you guys so much." Jane said as she leapt into her parents arm for one last hug.

"We love you too. Now hurry up and catch your train so you don't miss your big new adventure."

She smiled as she weaved her way through the train full of robed youth trying to find a space to sit. Her parents were so silly buying her a phone. With all the magical interference flying around the National Academy there is no way it would work - but it was the thought that counts.

Finally she found an empty booth at the back of the train; she sprawled her body over the seat, claiming it as her own before sitting up to find a comfortable position. It wasn't much longer before she heard the piercing shrill of teenage girls that could only signal the arrival of one mister Tony Stark. He rushed in and slammed the door shut, casting several locking enchantments to bar the door against his crazed fangirls.

"It took me forever to find you." he chided her. "Did you have to pick the most inconvenient, out of the way place in the multiverse?"

"Sorry Mr. Grumpy, but it was the only one that was free," she snarked back, rolling her eyes. "Now if you're going to be in such a grouchy mood I won't give you the present that I have, courtesy of my foolishly over-loving parents."

His eyes lit up at the sound of her offer, "'Grouchy', what are you talking about! I scream 'happy.'" He quickly opened the door and yelled "HAPPY" before firmly shutting and locking it again. "See, 'happy.' Now what do you got for me?" She tossed him the phone and smiled at his childlike fascination. "Whoa! What kind of muggle crap is this? It's so derpy and fragile looking."

"It's called a cell phone, you dolt. Muggles use it to communicate with each other instantly and all the time, sans owl."

"Wow! For once you muggles have created something more convenient than our superior fantastical magical minds... This will be a great piece for my project on merging magic with muggle technology." He paused. "Now, how do you open it?" he mused as he banged it against the railing of his seat. "Do you mind?"

"Suit yourself, it's yours to play with." She laughed as the wizard continued to smash the phone. For someone who was supposedly a magical genius, Tony could be amazingly dumb sometimes. "It will be more useful to you than me, especially given where we're going."

Leaving Tony to distract himself with the phone she reached into her bag and pulled out her astronomy book. It had been a long drive from Long Island to Salem this morning and it was supposed to be an even longer journey to the National Academy, so she made herself cozy and prepared for the journey ahead.

Her mind was still racing as she read her magical astronomy textbook, even though it was the umpteenth time she had perused it. The magical perspective was just so different from the muggle version she had grown up with! She had fond memories of herself as a kid, dressed up in a silly suit and pretending to be an astronaut exploring unknown worlds. That all changed when she found out she was a witch and suddenly her own world seemed a lot more unknown. It had only been four years since then and she was still getting used to the fact that she, Jane Foster, was right now heading to the top magical academy in the realm and one of the top in the world. It had been so difficult for her to transition in those early days, back at the Long Island School of Magic she had attended for the past four years and which was tiny in comparison with what she was about to face.

She still couldn't believe she was one of the mere five students from her grade accepted into the National Academy, the rest having to go to the Salem Witches Institute or the Noranda Wizards Collegiate. Luckily Tony was coming with her so she knew someone from her Long Island days. Granted, Tony was Tony, ridiculous and aloof, an arrogant motherfucker who Jane swore was only friends with her because he was fascinated with her muggleness. He wasn't the best friend in the world, but he was all she had right now and she was glad for that.

Even though his family founded and funded the Long Island School of Magic there was no question on whether Tony deserved to come to the National Academy; he was a bona fide genius. Some said he was even more gifted than his father - which made Jane question how in the world she got accepted. She was just a muggle born girl who was confused half the time and feeling like a fish out of water the other half. But whatever, she was accepted and she was going to try her hardest to be the best witch possible.

The metal shriek of the train stopping jolted her out of her daydreams. She couldn't believe they were already in the capital city - but a quick look at her watch showed her that it was already 2pm.

"We're already halfway there!" she exclaimed. But Tony, completely distracted by the project at hand, wasn't listening so Jane rushed to the window instead. This was her first time in Frontenac and what she had heard about the capital city was nothing short of breathtaking. An all-wizard city, Frotenac was the third largest in the world, (after Xian in Henan and Tikal in Calderon) located in the middle of the muggle Quebec City. It contained the Assemblage, the centre of the management of magical beings in The Laurentides and the ministries which uphold the International Statute on Wizarding Secrecy. The Assemblage also houses the meeting place of the governing council comprised of the chairman and representatives from the four great wizard clans in The Laurentides.

It was really weird for Jane to think that four years ago this was just some french city in Canada to her but now it was Frontenac, the capital of The Laurentides. The United States and Canada didn't exist anymore; instead there were the six magical realms of North America. Aurora, Cascadia, Calderon, The Shield, Louisiana and The Laurentides which was the furthest North-East and comprised what Jane used to call New York, New England and parts of the Eastern Canadian provinces. Jane struggled to view herself as a Laurentian as opposed to an American or a New Yorker but she tried her best to adapt to her new magical reality.

Outside the train Jane could see the Assemblage towering over the city skyline, its green roof glimmering like dragon scales. Witches and wizards on brooms zoomed throughout the air alongside winged creatures that Jane had never heard of. In the streets outside the parked train Jane watched as a consortium of robed figures and magical beings strolled to and from magical stores. She tried her best to name them all, "Goblins, House-Elves, Ghosts, Doxies, I think that's a Hag, Ohh those are Gnomes and that one is uhmmm what's the word again? is it a Re'em?"

"Bwahahaha that my dear child is an Adlet." Tony burst in laughing "We haven't even reached school yet and someone already needs to study."

"Shut up!" Jane blushed "How was I supposed to know the name of every creature that looks like the lovechild of a man and his dog. I've heard of man's best friend but that's a little ridiculous."

"Be careful with your tongue young lady Adlets may be dumb as fuck but they are proud little bastards and will duel you to the death at a whims notice."

"I think I've had enough of your criticisms for one day. I'm going to take a walk and see why we haven't started moving again." And with that Jane zoomed out of the booth before Tony could reply.

As she walked through the train she could hear a commotion in the car ahead. Students were still boarding from the capital but movement was slow as there seemed to be some kind of security detail. Guards were filing through the train knocking on doors and checking for peoples' documents. Jane suddenly got really anxious and made to start to head back to her booth but she was stopped by a firm hand gripping her shoulder.

"Excuse me ma'am. May we please see your acceptance letter?" asked the man in a firm tone that betrayed all his polite formalities.

"uh I um there in my bag I um can.." Jane stuttered finding it difficult to talk with the man staring so impatiently at her.

"What are you doing? Leave that beautiful lady alone." A loud and regal voice called out.

"Can't you see that you are upsetting her?" Jane traced the voice back to a tall blonde youth who was boarding the train.

"But sir there is a security protocol in place."

"Nonsense have you forgotten that my father is a councilman. I will not have you ruin my first day at my new school. This is supposed to be a happy day of merriment. What possible security threat could a bunch of youth be. This young lady is beautiful and is in my care. If you have a problem with that you can speak with my father. Now hurry up and finish your job I want to get to school and start the festivities as I am getting quite hungry."

"Uh yes sorry sir." the guard mumbled and ran off into the other train.

"Um thank you..." Jane muttered still flustered by the whole exchange of events.

"You are welcome fair lady. Thor Odinson at your service. And what might be the name of such a beautiful maiden as yourself?"

"Jane Foster" she sputtered as the realization of who this was dawned on her.

Tony was not in a good mood. Having to sit through his father's lecture all morning about how he has a name and a reputation to uphold. His father was such an ass sometimes. Tony almost gagged when his father made them all pose for a family photo. It was sickening how fake his family was, like his parents actually cared what he did. All his dad wanted was to take credit for his work like when Tony developed a broomstick that was twice as fast and had ten times the control of a Firebolt. But according to the daily bugle that was a Howard Stark creation, not even a mention of the amount of work in flight spells Tony had invested.

Yes, he was definitely excited to finally be free from his father's empire, free to continue his work into bridging magic with muggle technology. Yet despite this freedom he had sudden wave of anxiety roll over him as if this train ride was going to lead him into dark waters.

After finally finishing his goodbyes with a hug to his mother and a nod to his dad he bolted to the train only to be stopped by a group of nonsensical fan girls.

"Hello ladies, Yes I know, I'm amazing. Genius you say...why yes I did reinvent the wand...but you see ladies my genius is needed over ... there."

Finally finding Jane's booth he rushed in and bolted the door with as many concealment charms he could think of. If only Jane knew that he practically transported their booth out of existence. But Jane was cute in a naive and muggle-ish kind of way like a little sister. She was a wealth of knowledge completely foreign to Tony which mystified him.

Muggle knowledge was for the most part looked down upon in the wizarding world especially by his father who was so egocentric about his magical prowess that he failed to realize that the innovations Tony made on the broomstick came from research he did on muggle "physics" out of a book Jane lent him. Over the past four years Jane have given him so many cool muggle treats such as the "calculator" and his personal favourite the "pedometer".

"A cell phone you say hmmm." his brain was running a mile a minute trying to work out all the intricacies that made the device function. Muggle technology was fascinating; while their "science" was hokey and existed in a lower level of experiential processing than magic, it could do things that were too technical and mundane for magic. It operated on a sense of order unknown to magic but the results were still impressive.

This object granted muggles the ability to directly communicate with each other anywhere at anytime. The closest equivalent in the magical world was the owl post or the floo network both of which were often tedious or inconvenient. Tony could only imagine the fun he would have being able to instantly gloat to anyone anywhere. Sadly the magical world and the muggle world were still incongruent and magical interference prevented muggle technology from working. His ultimate goal was to find a way to bridge this gap and this phone was a perfect starting project.

"This is fantastic Jane, I have so many great ideas for this"

"You seem really proud of yourself for a man who is talking to nobody"

Tony turned to see a girl with flaming red hair leaning against the door frame. "Why wouldn't I be proud of myself, my words are such genius the world is better off just by experiencing them. However, those words of pure gold were not directed towards you so I'm going to have to charge you interest. What did you do with my audience by the way?"

The girl raised a skeptical eyebrow at Tony's ridiculousness. "She left five minutes ago probably to get some fresh air as your ego seems to be hogging all the space in this booth."

"Are you saying that you have been standing here this whole time taking in my beauty. Wow I must say I am impressed, you fan girls are getting more desperate by the day. However if I recall I cast several charms on this room making it practically undetectable and impenetrable so you must be some kind of ghost or apparition or something. Judging by the offensive hue of your hair I'm guessing some kind of demon." Tony begins waving hands frantically at the girl. "Shoo foul demon you can't have my brain it's sacred! My body on the other hand is dashingly handsome and 93% available."

The girl glared at him completely unfazed. "Nice try hotshot. Your charms were quite impressive it took me all of nigh 10 seconds to figure out how to get through them. For future reference if you are going to combine C_ave Inimicum _with_ Fianto Duri and Protego Maxima _you need to include_ Repello Inimicum_ or else it will all easily be undone with a simple spell once someone notices the terrible excuse for a bedazzling hex you are using."

"I'll have you know it's a charm entirely of my own creation and it doesn't have to be overly complicated as it's designed to thwart crazed fangirls who if you haven't noticed aren't the brightest bunch of people. Their brains are too filled with racy vampire novels and smutty fanfics. It really is so disgusting to be around them with their loud voices interrupting all my work." He paused putting the most disgustingly judgmental expression he could muster. "So what is it this time? Did you create a gender swapped version of the Tale of Three Brothers or are you shipping me with Babbitty Rabbitty or some other god awful creation that will make me miss the innocence of my childhood."

She frowned, "I'm not here to gush about some trashy fanfic you boob. I'm here because I need to lay low and your anti-fangirl charm, while flawed, is good enough to serve my purposes."

"Lie low? Well you do have the bad ass rebel look going for you. Did you do something bad you naughty girl? Because it is totally okay if you did, I'm all about naughty. I like to think I'm quite the bad boy myself."

"Would you shut up someone is outside."

"What are you talking about-?" her hand slammed down across his mouth and she gave him a death look that sent a shiver down his spine. She pointed to the door and Tony became aware of the muffled sound of people talking.

"Something doesn't look right about this wall..." said one of the guards

"Is this some kind of concealment charm?...Hey what's going on here is someone trying to hide or something?

_"Protego Recanto_ ... Man this is a doozy of a charm."

"Damn!" the girl cursed under her breath.

Tony wiggled his way free "Don't worry miss, I got this"

He reached for the door and yelled "Who the fuck is disturbing my workplace?" Opening it he came face to face with two angry looking guards "Why hello officers is there any reason you are disturbing me, the great Tony Stark, at this crucial point in my research which is mind blowing and will change the way you live your lives?"

"Oh...Mr Stark...why exactly you are hiding behind a bunch of concealment charms? Also we are going to need to see your acceptance letter, protocol and all."

"I'm sorry who the fuck do you think I am?" Tony fumed, "I'm Tony freaking Stark, of course I got accepted into the National Academy, have you seen me, I'm a genius and of course I'm hiding behind a bunch of concealment charms, magical patent pending, because I need peace and quiet from fools like you as I work on such earth shattering stuff that just looking at it would cause your mothers' eyes to melt. Now if you don't mind me officers I've kind of got to get back to changing the world soooo .."

"uh right right um sorry sir..." the guards looked flabbergasted, "Well I guess that's the last of them. Tell Chairman Fury that this train is a good to go and be quick about it, it's already 2:30 and that Odinson child is getting rather grumpy."

Tony slammed the door shut and beamed at the girl who was giving him the most deadpanned unimpressed face he'd ever seen. "What did I tell you? I'm all about naughty."

"Clearly."

"So what's the deal with these guards and Chairman Fury getting all up in my biznatch? Naughty girl did you steal Fury's magic eye? Because I have had an idea or two of my own on how to snatch that little gem of a magical artifact."

"Have you been living in a hole in the ground? Why do you think there is enhanced security surrounding the capital city? Chairman Stoner was assassinated only a month ago, Fury was appointed Chairman because the realm was on the verge of chaos. These fools in charge have no idea what happened and everyone is crying foul blood."

"Hold on, who said he was assassinated? All we know is that he died of mysterious circumstances. We live in a magical world, everything around us is teeming with mysterious circumstance. Besides it's no big deal, he was an old man. Old men die all the time, I'm pretty sure dying is in the job description. Unless you know something that no one else does demon lady. You do seem to be implying naughty intentions. Why are you hiding here in the first place? Did you kill the chairman? Because that takes things to a whole new level of naughty."

"And what if I did? You gonna try and stop me?" She replied curtly "Anyways can't a girl have a little privacy? I know this must be a foreign concept to you, you ego whore, but I don't want to draw a lot of attention to myself."

"Well you certainly got my attention..."

"Cool it boy, looks like the train is moving again so I'm out. Thanks for the hide-away but you better watch out Mr. Stark for I may very well come back for your brain." she waved her arms menacingly and then slipped out the door.

Tony chased after her, "Wait if I'm going to be haunted by a demon can I at least have a name?" but the only person in the car was a steward pushing the food cart. "I'll take six chocolate frogs and all the butterbeer you've got"

"Sorry laddy but the law is the law and you're definitely underage".

"But I'm Tony Stark, I practically am the law." he pleaded to no avail, "Dammit!" he grabbed his chocolate frogs paid up and disappeared back into his booth for the remainder of the ride.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It was dark by the time the train pulled into its final destination. Tony was quick to jump out of the stuffy booth and into the crisp air of the late summer night. There was a slight nip that spelled the impending arrival of autumn but it helped relieve Tony of some of the headache hours of mental deadlock had created. Understanding muggle technology was harder than he'd like to admit, however he was committed to this project and had brainstormed enough ideas to make him content with his progress.

La Toque was an unimpressive wizarding settlement, with all of 50 people, but it did have a pub, which would have to do for the next five years. Tony gave a loud sigh and then made a beeline towards "The Bears Paw" as it was so called. Once he bought the establishment the name would be the first thing to go.

"Hold it Stark. Not tonight" Spoke a powerful voice, which Tony recognized instantly, causing his naturally puffed up body to deflate like a balloon letting out all the hot air.

"Chairman Fury. I didn't realize the Council was in the business of babysitting. Did my father put you up to this?"

"If you're expecting me to change your diaper you'll be sorely disappointed. I'm in the business of giving orders not taking them and right now I'm ordering your sorry ass back into line with your new classmates."

Tony reluctantly turned around to face his aggressor, avoiding contact with the larger man's magical eye. Even though it was hidden behind an eye patch Tony could feel it glaring at him, sucking away at his soul. "You can't honestly expect me to associate with those plebeians, especially not sober. Now if you don't mind me I'm going to take patronage at this fine establishment."

"Cut the crap, you know who you're messing with. Now go join the rest of the kiddies and make some friends. I don't have time to be dealing with your sass." Tony was about to retort but Fury's glare was so intense that no sound would come from his mouth. The Chairman smiled smugly as he watched Tony sulk back towards the rest of his class.

"That ass!" Tony thought "He put a silencing hex on me. I should report him to the authorities for child abuse. But wait I can't because he is the authorities. Cheeky bastard...One day he'll get what's coming for him." Despite all his angry hyperbole, when he stopped to think about why the Chairman was here it caused that wave of anxiety to wash over him again. Fury wasn't here for to socialize with the leaders of tomorrow, something serious was going on and it definitely wasn't good.

Tony thought back to the words of the demon chick. She knew something that she wasn't telling him. All this secrecy made him uncomfortable and wasn't helping with his headache. Where was that demon child anyways? He scanned the throng of youth around him to no avail. He did spot Jane however, being strung along under the arms of a large blonde youth that Tony recognized as that Nordic noble Thor Odinson.

"Looks like even mild mannered Jane has succumbed to fangirlism." Tony mused "Something must be done to end this pandemic. Perhaps once I'm done with my cell phone project I'll devise an anti-infatuation potion to try and bring reason back to the young witches of the world."

A tall slender wizard was directing the new arrivals towards the dock so Tony grudgingly followed suit. Once everyone had assembled, the wizard raised his wand and shouted "_Accio Acipenser Fulvescens!"_

A stream of energy blasted across the water sending small waves crashing against the shore. Everyone perked up with anticipation as the seconds passed and the water returned to its black lifeless state. A loon call broke the tension startling one girl so badly she stumbled halfway into the lake before regaining her balance.

Suddenly a soft beating arose from deep with the lake. dum...dum...dum... the lake started to bubble and glow as it grew louder Dum...Dum...Dum..And then a whiskered snout broke through the surface followed by a long body that stretched at least 60 meters across the water. Rows of seats lined the length of the body and nestled between the horns on the head was a great drum that beat far into the night DUM...DUM...DUM The creature was covered in brilliantly coloured tribal patterns that made it stand out against the dark water.

"Students this is Namaew, the guardian of these waters." The wizard instructed "It will be providing us with safe passage to the National Academy. Please find a seat and prepare yourselves, we have almost arrived."

One by one everyone clamoured onto the being, which was surprisingly stable. Tony took a seat near the front carefully examining the material. It was hard like a rock and as smooth as obsidian. The drum started louder again and Namaew began snaking its way across the black waters. The sky above them was shimmering streaks of turquoise, red and gold. The colours danced through the air to the rhythm of the beating drum. As they entered a narrow channel lined with cliffs on the other side of the lake the drumming quietened and the colours began to fade. Along the cliff face giant stone beasts were carved into the stone glaring at them menacingly as if to ward off evil intentions. Rounding a bend in the water Tony could begin to make out a pillar of smoke rising from a great fire at the end of the channel.

"Excusez-moi professeur, mais où est l'Académie Nationale? Je vois seulement un feu de bois." Inquired a francophone youth nearby. Due to the history of the four great wizarding clans in The Laurentides practically everyone was multilingual or had translator charms. Tony being the genius he was had mastered 347 languages however, he still had a difficult time with Hungarian.

"That fire is the National Academy." The professor replied "If you merely wait a second all will become clear."

By now Tony was able to make out more of the details of the scene in front of him. There were several hundred people present, all of them sitting in a circle of benches. At the one side of the circle a large magical fire was burning crimson and azure, its flames reaching as high as the nearby trees. Within the circle rose four towering totem poles carved with several unearthly looking creatures. Namaew stopped beside a rustic looking dock near the edge of the circle. A serious looking man in a wheelchair rolled towards them.

"Welcome, new students to the National Academy for the Teaching of Occult Qualities. Please come join us the festivities are about to begin." The man said calmly gesturing towards a row of empty benches at the far side of the his request people starting getting up from their seats and filed off of Nemaew.

As Tony crossed the circle his eyes caught Chairman Fury standing at the far side of the circle, lurking in the shadows. Standing next to him was a scrawny looking boy, around the same age as Tony, with a messy mop of dark curls that shrouded his face making it difficult to see his facial features. The boy was standing defensively with his arms shielding his chest and Tony got the feeling that he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Tony had never seen such a deflated and defeated person before, the boys helpless expression stirred up a sharp pain hidden deep within him forcing him to sit down. As he did he glanced over to the lakeside just in time to glimpse the outline of Namaew slowly sinking back into the darkness.

The wheeled man rolled into the centre of the circle and clapped his hands to signal attention. "Good evening everyone, I hope your travels served you well. My name is Professor Xavier and I have the honour of being the headmaster of this esteemed academy. As headmaster I would like to formally welcome you all to the start of a new academic year at the National Academy for the Teaching of Occult Qualities. For those of you who do not know, this academy is also known as Na to'q which comes from the traditional Mi'kMaq saying "It shall be so". You all have taken different journeys to get to this place, coming from different communities, different languages and different cultures. Yet despite these differences you all sit here tonight, ready to start an entirely new adventure at the top school in the realm. Some of you may feel out of place or overwhelmed by the chaos of life's difficulties, but take heart for you all are here for a reason. The Laurentides is such a unique and wondrous realm due to its diversity. A diversity that stems from our history with the four great wizarding clans: the English, the French, the Nordics, and the Aboriginals. A tradition that continues to this day with the new perspectives of our growing muggle-born community. When the first Council created this academy, they did so to symbolize the unity that comes from the bringing together of our four historical communities. Today the citizens of our realm look to this academy as a beacon of that unity, raising the leaders of tomorrow. Leaders of who are able to discern truth, leaders who are not afraid to take chances, leaders who seek preserve the natural order of the universe, leaders who drive our world forward. "

Headmaster Xavier turned to address the incoming students. "It is my hope that as your journey through your studies here at the National Academy that you will strive to embody all of these qualities. However, before we can lead we must start somewhere and that is why the academy is divided into four houses to help foster your individual strengths. Fox, Owl, Bear and Moose; one of these houses will be your family for the next five years, supporting you as you grow and develop. These houses are led by the four guardian spirits who have protected this land since ancient times: Kueshu, the fox spirit, Totoba, the owl spirit, Muwin, the bear spirit, and Hottah, the moose spirit."

As he spoke their names one by one the totems poles erupted with a beam of light that slowly apparated into the figures of four giant spirits. Once formed the ethereal beings came to rest at the base of their totems waiting for the Headmaster's next instruction.

"First years, now is the time for you to face your judgement. Have no fear, it is not as dramatic as I make it sound. I will call you each in order alphabetically to enter the centre of the circle. Here the spirits will judge the innate qualities of your body, mind, heart and soul. While we all have many gifts, we all naturally have a stronger draw to one of the spirits. They will choose you and should you accept you will form a special bond with them that will last for the remainder of your studies here at the National Academy. Once the bond has been made you are free to join the upperclassmen family in your new house. Does that sound simple enough? Okay first up Ames, Elsa. Please step forward."

A terrified looking blonde girl meekly stood up from her seat and stepped into towards the centre of the circle.

"Well go on, they don't bite." Xavier coaxed.

She took another step forward and the four spirits immediately jumped to attention causing a thick layer of energy to ripple through the air. A moment later Muwin stepped forward and crouched down to touch his padded nose to Elsa's forehead. She looked as if she was about to faint before the great bear spirit stood up and moved back into his position at the base of his totem.

"The bond has been created. You may join you housemates now Ms. Ames." A section of the circle began cheering, beckoning Elsa to join them. She reluctantly did, the tension not leaving her body until she finally sat down.

"Okay next up is one Banner, Bruce." The headmaster paused hesitantly giving a confused glance towards Chairman Fury, who nodded for him to continue. "Well then... we do not have all night so if you would be so kind as to enter the circle."

Tony looked up attentively as the scrawny boy made his way out of the shadows and into the circle, casting nervous glances to his sides. Before he even reached the centre the spirits began to become quite agitated causing Totoba's feathers to stand on end Kueshu's three tails to puff up. An intense feeling of dread swept across the circle. Tony felt his heart clench with anxiety, something was definitely unique about this Bruce kid.

At that moment Bruce let out a gut wrenching scream and a cloud of darkness shot from his chest. Totoba immediately flew up to the top of his totem as the other spirits made to flee but not before the cloud formed itself into the shape of a giant beast that resembled a wolf or wolverine and leapt at Kueshu catching the smaller canine spirit with its jaw. The intruder demon threw the fox spirit across the circle leaving behind a limp pile. The spectators in the circle gave a universal gasp as the wolf spirit then lunged at Muwin. The great bear spirit fought back grappling his mighty arms around the wolf who was equal in size and strength.

It looked as if the wolf was going to overpower the bear spirit, when Hottah crashed into the wolf's side sending it crashing to the ground. A standoff then began between Hottah and Muwin, and the humongous beast.

Professor Xavier made to interfere but was stopped by the force of Totoba soaring past him. The owl spirit gave him a powerful glare to stay out of it. As the beast was occupied by the combined forces of Hottah and Muwin the great owl spirit was using the opportunity to target Bruce who was holding his head screaming in agony. The owl landed on top of the tortured boy and then shut his eyes as if entering a meditative state.

Several screams rang out when the owl suddenly jutted its talons out and sunk them deep into Bruce's skull. Tony had to stop himself from gagging at the sight, swallowing hard. The force of the spirits intrusion into his brain knocked the wind out of Bruce and he gasped for air. The demon was also startled by this imposition giving an opening for Muwin to strike forcefully across the jaw. This only enraged the beast further as it let out a roar and slammed the great bear spirit against his totem before tackling Hottah into the ground. The force of this assault seemed to be leaving its mark on the spirits as they lay dazed and faulting.

The wolfbeast got up and turned towards Totoba whose talons were sinking deeper into Bruce's head. Before the demon could make a move the great owl spirit opened its eyes and gave a powerfully piercing gaze that stopped the monster in its tracks. It was almost as if the owl was claiming ownership of the boy from the other. Bruce began to appear calmer and the beast started to dissipate back into shadows. Once the demon had returned into the boy, Totoba retracted its talons and Bruce's knees buckled under him, collapsing into a weak mess. The owl spirit caught the frail skeleton in its talons and lifted off into the air flying over to a group of students dressed in blue. Totoba gently placed Bruce down and one of the professors rushed over to attend to him.

"Well that was rather dramatic. Shall we continue another ...?" Xavier began talking but once again the mesmerizing gaze of Totoba stopped him. The spirits slowly began to pick themselves up and return to their positions. Once they had all assembled they gave a nod to the headmaster signalling him to continue the ceremony.

"My apologies everyone, apparently the spirits would like to continue so umm could Beaubier, Jeanne-Marie please come forward. I promise you everything is under control now." The circle was filled with tension after the dramatic fight that had just unfolded. Despite this, a bland looking girl stood up without hesitation and made for the circle to the dismay of that francophone boy from earlier who appeared to be her twin brother.

She entered the circle and stared blankly at the spirits awaiting their decision. There seemed to be a slight commotion amongst the spirits who were still recovering from the fight, but no dark spirit joined the fray. Eventually Muwin stepped forward and made the bond. A universal sigh of relief swept over the group as Jeanne -Marie sat down beside an excited Elsa, and nodded towards her brother.

The rest of the ceremony went fairly smoothly in comparison to Bruce's. Jeanne-Marie's twin brother Jean-Paul went with Kueshu, Jane went with Totoba, she seemed surprised with the result and cautiously sat down near Bruce who had now regained consciousness. Her new boytoy Thor Odinson, unsurprisingly went with Hottah. The house was traditionally dominated by people from the Nordic clan. He noisily sat down with a group of upperclassmen who must have been his friends from back in Gros Morne. All in all 13 people went with Hottah, 15 went each with Kueshu and Totoba and the remaining 16 went with Muwin.

Tony was having a hard time focusing throughout the ceremony. He just couldn't get the tortured look on Bruce's face, as the wolf spirit erupted from his chest, out of his mind. The tightness that had wrapped around his heart at seeing the other boy scream in agony had been exhilarating and left a gaping hole that Tony had never noticed before. There was obviously something special about that boy, something that surely involved Fury and his crafty ways. Tony was resolved, he needed to know more about the guy, he needed to feel again.

"Rushman, Nancy." Tony snapped back to reality as he saw a meek little blonde girl in pigtails shuffle into the centre of the circle. Almost immediately Kueshu perked up and moved to make the bond. Once the bond was formed a smile beamed across her face and she glanced over at Tony giving him a mischievous wink before shifting her expression to a cold stare directed squarely at Chairman Fury. With a turn of the heels, Nancy strutted off towards her new house. She had completely shed her meek atmosphere and was seductively moving her hips in a way that was all too familiar to Tony. With a wave of her wand her blonde pigtails disappeared revealing a head of flaming red hair.

"YOU!" He shot up, startling his neighbours and directing all eyes to him. He heard several fangirls gasp at the recognition of the great Stark child and an excited buzz filled the air.

"A little pre-emptive Mr. Stark but you name is the next name on the list." The headmaster said calmly. "Now if you're done making a scene the circle is waiting."

Seeing that demon lady again had gotten Tony all riled up. He stormed into the circle with his target clear in mind. Before the spirits could even react he whipped a finger out at Totoba and shouted " Now see here Hooters, you're not going to find a mind more interesting and complex than mine so there really is no option on the matter. Now form a bond with me so we can get on with dinner because its already 8 and we still haven't had supper and I'm pretty sure I can hear Odinson's stomach from over here."

The great owl spirit seemed unimpressed by his rudeness and arrogance, and just stared at him intensely. Tony just stared back as there was no way in hell he was going to be in any house other than the one that contained that enigma of a person, Bruce Banner. Finally Totoba relented and formed the bond by pecking Tony forcefully on the noggin.

"Booyeah! That's Tony Stark for you ladies and gentleman." Tony narrated shooting an array of dazzling flare spells into the air in jubilation.

"That wasn't an invitation for you to give a speech Tony. Now if you could be seated so we can finish." the headmaster looked at him with warning.

Tony shuffled off, rubbing his head. For an ethereal being, that owl sure packed a punch. Jane was waiting for him and jumped up giving him a hug.

""I'm so happy were in the same house, but seriously Tony do you always have to be so ridiculous?" she laughed

"Of course I do, where's the fun in being normal" He replied as they took their seats. Tony casually glanced at Bruce nearby who was wringing his hands something fierce.

Shortly thereafter the last student had been bonded and Headmaster Xavier moved back into the centre of the circle.

"That concludes this part of the evening. I hope your houses will find you well and you will come to depend on them as your family away from home as you study here for the next five years. Now I think it's about time to eat, for poor Mr. Odinson's sake. So if you all would be still for a second."

The professor clapped his hands and the setting began to change as a transparent wall sprouted around the edge of the circle, reaching into the starry night. The ground within the circle transitioned from tuffs of grass into a smooth stone floor. A snap of the headmasters fingers summoned four gigantean oak tables laden with food. Tony could feel the bench underneath him gently lift up and glide up beside one of the tables, inches away from a big pork roast.

" This dear students is the Great Hall." Xavier exclaimed, "Spirits if you would be so kind as to show our new students where their dormitories are." At that, the spirits started towards the four corners of the hall. Once Kueshu had reached the southern wall the spirit began to burrow deep into the ground. As it dug a sprawling network of dungeons began to appear behind it until the fox reached the bottom and disappeared into the earth.

"May I present to all of you, Kueshu's Den, the residence of Fox House."

When Totoba reached the northern wall the owl spirit shot upwards, towards the moon. As it flew a white gleaming tower formed, stretching into the night, until the great owl had disappeared into the moonlight.

"That tower is called Totoba's Perch, the residence of Owl House."

At the eastern wall, Muwin continued on into the rocky cliff face, sculpting out a cavern full of rooms as he went before disappearing into the rock.

"The eastern residence is home to Bear House and is known as Muwin's Cave."

In the opposite direction Hottah began wading into the water's edge near the dock where Namaew had dropped them off. A wooden mansion followed him arching over the shallows until the great moose spirit had disappeared beneath the surface.

"Last but not least we have Hottah's Mire, the residence of Moose House."

Once all four spirits had disappeared the rest of the academy's sprawling campus appeared and the walls of the Great Hall solidified to expose the mighty pine beams and stained glass windows that comprised them. The crimson fire still raged within its stone hearth at the one end filling the Hall with light.

"I would like to make one final welcome to all our new students. Welcome everyone to Na to'q, the National Academy for the teaching of Occult Qualities. It is in these halls and classrooms where you will learn who you are and what your place is in this world. It is in within these walls where you will grow into the leaders of the future. So take a deep breath and get ready to start this academic year and all the adventures that will follow."

Xavier paused and made a more serious face, " On a separate note some of you may have noticed the increased security surrounding your arrival this year. This is due to the fact that over the next couple of days we will have the honour of hosting Chairman Fury, as the chairman and I discuss some important matters." Fury stepped forward and bowed slightly to the headmaster. "Please be respectful of the Chairman and his entourage during their visit and things should return back to normal sometime next week."

The headmaster took a deep breath and put on a warm smile." But enough with the formalities, let us eat!"

Tony stared quizzically at the chairman. Between the Banner kid and the demon chick, Tony was sure there was more to Fury's visit than meets the eye. He would have to investigate into this further at another date. However, as of right now his stomach was growling something fierce. He glanced down the table at his fellow house members devouring the table spread and noticed an empty spot where Bruce was supposed to be.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Bruce plopped down on his bed with a thud and buried his face in his pillow. He took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. There was no way he was going to let himself lose control again today. What was Fury thinking bringing him to such a populated place with so many vulnerable children. And then there was that "show"... right off the bat the other guy had to make an appearance. He could see the terror in his classmates' eyes as he writhed in pain in front of them. Talk about first impressions. They would fear him, hate him, hurt him.. just like everyone else always did. He could feel the burning rage of the other guy trying to consume him.

"Be still...This child is mine..."

Bruce could still hear the owl spirit's words in his mind and felt his inner demon quieten. His thoughts traveled back to earlier this evening. He was screaming in the middle of the circle, the flickering flames of the great fire licking at the sky to his left...the other guy standing in front of him for the first time, a giant abomination in a wolf's skin. So this is what people felt like when they saw that demon. This monster was inside of him, a part of him, that constant burning in his chest. The wolf like apparition had lunged at the other spirits thrashing them to the ground with one fell swoop. The pain of seeing the other guy cause so much hurt right before his eyes was too much for the adolescent. He was overcome with guilt, and fear, and an overwhelming sense of anger, which only fuelled the demon more.

Then Totoba had landed on top of his head, catching the panicked youth off guard. The immense spirit was surprisingly light on top of his crown. And then the talons pierced his skull. The shock of the forceful act overran the child with panic. This was it, finally he would face recompense for the actions of his other half. But instead the owl spirit spoke into his soul and all Bruce's anger melted away.

"Be still...This child is mine..."

The wolfbeast made to attack the owl, but Totoba just stared him down and repeated the command again.

"Be still...This child is mine..."

That was it. Bruce was empty and the demon was gone. For the first time since the incident Bruce couldn't feel the burning rage of the other guy. It was a still serenity that was unnatural to the boy after years of anguish. But then the owl spirit let go and the sensation once again burned on, although it felt deeper. The whole ordeal had drained Bruce of all his energy and he collapsed, blacking out until he regained enough strength to run to his room where he lay now pondering.

What was he doing at this school? He may have the appearance of an average student, but all he was, was a harbinger of destruction and darkness. It was only a matter of time before he destroyed the school. But he was trapped here, Fury wanted him here and there was nowhere else he could go.

"Be still...This child is mine..."

Despite everything, Totoba had chosen him, wanted him. Maybe things would work out. He did feel slightly calmer than normal since he had made a bond with the owl spirit. Maybe he would be able to control it. Maybe he could be a normal student. Bruce's childlike imagination was getting ahead of him.

"No Bruce, you're dangerous. Don't even bother raising hope for yourself. You can't be like the other kids." he scolded himself

"Soooooo who's the new boy toy?" Bruce was startled by a loud voice rising up from the owl house common room. He listened in more intently.

"Stop it Tony it's nothing." A more feminine voice squealed.

"It didn't look like nothing. You've been strutting around with that blonde "demi-god" all day" Bruce found the degree of sass in the masculine voice highly entertaining.

The girl did not seem to share Bruce's view and her voice was dripping with agitation."He was just being nice. Do you always have to go and ruin everything."

"Can I not be protective of my "little sister". You better be careful with that Odinson fellow, he has some dangerous fangirls who will cut you if you get too close."

"I'm hardly your younger sister as my birthday is seven months before yours. You haven't even turned fifteen yet."

"Yeah, yeah whatever Jane, back to my main point. This Odinson guy...now I know he is as hot as hell and is super wealthy and popular and all, but that comes as a price. I hear he is a dumb as nails. Is that really what you want for your future babies?"

"Tony! I'm not "involved" with Thor, we just met for god's sake, so just drop it. Also that's some flawed logic you are working with, as you should be even dumber than he is."

"Oh so you're saying I'm sexier than Thor..."

"Ha! Hardly with that scrawny body of yours. But your family is like the richest in the entire wizarding world and you have your fair share of fan girls so clearly according to your own flawless logic you should be as at least 75% as stupid as Thor, if not more."

"So you do agree with me that prince charming is intellectually challenged. I knew blondness was correlated with stupidocitivity. Ha I win!"

"I give up. It's too late to be arguing with you. Goodnight you bonehead."

"Late? Jane it's only 11. The night is still young."

"Goodnight Tony.." Bruce heard a door shut softly in the distance, and then the quick rustlings of someone fidgeting with the doorknob of his room.

"Damn it! It's locked..._Alohomora." _The door clicked and in burst Tony Stark wearing a dopey grin. "Oh hey roomie, what ya doing locking our door for? Are there fan girls chasing you, after your stunning performance earlier? Beautiful work by the way. Actually now that I think about it a lock seems like a good idea. Wouldn't want to wake up with a bunch of girls in our beds. Now I know what you thinking, that sounds like every boy's dream. But I can tell you from personal experience that it's not as great as it sounds, because eventually they start sniffing your socks and stealing pieces of hair and things get a little crazy. And we don't need any more crazy in here. Ain't that right big guy?"

"Uh...hello?..." Bruce awkwardly rolled over and sat himself up to face his intruder. "What are you doing here? I was supposed to have a room to myself."

"OH! My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. How terribly rude I'm being. You, good sir, are looking at the one and only Tony Stark; genius, billionaire, playboy. And while this room was originally just for you, plans have changed. I just had to have this room, I mean come on its at the top of the tower. How cool is that? And it's got like the best view of those tree things over there or whatever. So anyways now were roomies. Bruce right?..." Bruce gave a slight nod in affirmation.

"YAY sparkles and friendship power and what not!"

Bruce was getting frustrated by this turn of events, he was really looking forward to some privacy. "I know who you are Tony. But we can't be roommates, I'm too dangerous. We'll have to go talk to the headmaster or something."

"No can do my new friend. I had to pull like ten thousand strings to get this place and there is no way Xavier is going to undo it. We kind of had to move several students around to get this to work. But hey don't worry this will be exciting. I'm a genius so there's no end to the fun we can have. And I realize you may say your "dangerous" but I happen to love danger or at least I think I do. This will be the perfect practice for my bad boy persona I'm working on for the ladies."

Bruce wanted to laugh at how lightly Tony was taken this, he had even called Bruce a friend. Bruce didn't have friends, they were a privilege he couldn't afford. With the lengths Tony went to get here, Bruce started to get the sneaking suspicion that there was more to this room change than a better view.

"You're going to get yourself in trouble with that attitude. I'm serious Tony you don't want to spend time with me."

"Brucie baby how would you possibly know what I want? Relax it will be good for you to spend some time with another human being. Maybe some of my awesomeness might rub off on you. wink wink Hehe... Now come over here roomie and let's start the bonding times by putting a better lock on the door."

Bruce sighed, he could see there was no changing the other boy's mind. He just hoped that the other guy wouldn't join them anytime soon.

"Fine...so _Colloportus_ isn't good enough eh." Bruce bent down to examine the door more closely when Tony suddenly pricked his arm with a pin. "Oww! You bastard, you made me bleed." Bruce cried out, although he found himself surprisingly amused that Tony would dare tempt the demon within, in such a blatant way.

"Shh are you going to give you me your blood or not? I need it for this spell I'm using." Tony chirped dabbing his finger in the small bead of blood protruding from Bruce's arm. "See I just mix our blood with my anti-fangirl charm and the door should be impossible to enter for anyone but us. _Protego Starkato_. There. This door should be 100% impenetrable to all our unwanted admirers."

"Did you have to name the spell after yourself?" Bruce queried and then stepped forward to examine the charm further "This is an impressive concealment charm though. Oh but wait, aren't you forgetting some kind of buffing spell like _Repello Inimicum _to protect it from advanced unlocking spells. Also the bedazzling hex you are using could use some work."

"Seriously is it that easy to spot? Damn meddlers ruining all my hard work today." Tony pouted.

"Here let me give it a try." Bruce said, yanking a piece of hair from Tony's head.

"OUCH!"

"Well fair is fair. Now where are we again? Oh yeah..._ Veroulier Infinitum." _Bruce stepped back to admire his work. "That should do the trick."

Tony stared agape. "You have to show me how you did that. Wow! What a powerful charm. Where did you even learn that?"

"You pick up a thing or two in my circumstances..." Bruce thought back to hiding under a blanket in a small dark room while powerful fists banged against the door and shuddered. He didn't tell Tony but the spell worked both ways keeping unfriendly things inside as well as out. A trick he developed to help minimize the destruction of the other guy.

"Clearly I made a good choice in roommate." Tony beamed friendly and full of energy. It made Bruce almost relax a little bit. " Now shall we make this room more comfortable" The billionaire preceded to wave his wand around sending furniture flying around. When the dust settled two massive and ornate looking beds sat snug at either end of the small circular room with all their luggage neatly unpacked on their respective shelves and dressers. The room definitely looked a lot more cozy and full than previously as Tony had a lot more stuff than Bruce's sad belongings. Tony's things were also a lot nicer. The mountain of a bed that had replaced his old cot was a nice improvement.

"Tony you don't have to do this. I can use my own stuff"

"Nonsense, how can you expect to survive with that crap. Besides you're my roomie and that comes with some perks." Tony gave a warm smile " Hmmm where should we put the lab." Tony whipped open a wardrobe and began flinging the contents on the ground.

"Lab? Tony what are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm making a lab I need a place where I can think and work on my projects in peace." He tossed the last item out of the wardrobe and clapped his hands together satisfied."There this should do. " Tony then slammed the doors shut and tapped his wand on it three times before throwing them open again to reveal another room within their room.

"I see, the Undetectable Extension Charm. Nice."

They stepped into the new room and Bruce was taken aback by how full it was. The walls were lined with countless bookshelves and on a counter against the wall was a row of cauldrons bubbling away. There was a reading area with a couple of couches that were covered with stacks of half-read books. Tony strutted over to the far side of the room where a large torch was burning above a worktable. At the foot of the table a mess of broken muggle technology was strewn about.

"Tony this is amazing!" Bruce exclaimed.

"Yeah I know. I practically live here most of the time. It is at this table that I developed the improved broomstick. And over there I am attempting to brew a more effective polyjuice potion, that will last longer and hopefully have a better taste."

"Wow Tony, this is all yours?" Bruce was flabbergasted he had never seen so much information in one place so close to his reach.

"Yep and yours. As my roommate you get full access to the lab on the condition that you help with all my projects and that I get to steal all the credit."

"I dunno Tony...this all seems too much for me."

"That's rubbish and you know it. I may be a genius but that concealment charm you cast is way out of my league. Evidently someone's quite brilliant themselves. Just imagine the possibilities if we combine our intellect together. Here, come check out my latest project. I just started it this morning and I've already reached a dead end. Perhaps you can see something I can't."

Tony pulled out a small piece of muggle technology that looked as though it had seen better days.

"What's that? Some kind of muggle creation?"

"Yeah.. Apparently it's called a cell phone. Muggles use it to instantly communicate with one another all the time, anywhere. I'm trying to find a way to translate it to the magical world."

"Hmm let me see this." Tony handed Bruce the phone. With a wave of his wand the phone separated into several hundred pieces that hung suspended in the air. "We just need to trace through its parts to figure out how it works."

"Astounding Bruce! Best lab partner ever!"

They spent the next several hours coursing over every part in detail as they examined how the energy was transferred through them. Eventually an exhausted yet exhilarated Tony called the quits and they stumbled into bed. As Bruce crawled under the covers, he thought about how Tony has called him friend earlier and a small smile crept over his face, the first in years.

"What are you thinking bringing that child to my academy!" Headmaster Xavier yelled across his office, located at the top of the administrative tower. "You have endangered the lives of all my staff and students."

"You know very well why I brought him here." Chairman Fury spoke back with power. "With Stoner's assassination the Assemblage has been compromised. This academy is the most secure place in the realm. We cannot let that beast get into the hands of the wrong people and it is getting harder and harder to tell people's hands apart these days."

"So the rumours are true, Chairman Stoner was assassinated. Who would do such an evil act?"

"We have no leads which is what makes this situation all the more unstable. The realm is on the brink of chaos and everyone is crying foul. The last thing I need is someone using that beast to start a war. I have very few people I trust at this hour and that is why I need you to guard the demon."

"You speak of him as a monster, but he is still a mere child."

"Children don't kill people for breakfast."

"Then what I am to do to guarantee the safety of my students."

"Control headmaster. The boy himself is quite well behave and very bright, takes after yourself. Control the boy and you control the beast. If anyone can do it, it is you headmaster."

"I'm starting to regret allowing Stark to be his roommate. Why did that damn child have to be so persistent."

"Stark, now there is someone to watch out for. What is that bastard planning now? Don't worry headmaster it will be good for the child to interact with children his own age. Besides the owl spirit made a bond with the child. That should be enough to keep the beast at bay...right?..."

"I dearly hope so...for the sake of all of us."

"Come we have other matters to discuss." The two powerful wizards slowly disappeared into the hall not noticing a small figure with flaming red hair creeping through the shadows.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Bruce was standing at the edge of the tower, the wind lapping at his feet. The full moon shone bright above his head, illuminating the area. He looked down at the sprawling campus beneath him that looked so distant from this height. This tower was the tallest point around and Bruce had a clear view of the surrounding region in the glow of the moonlight. He could see the dim lights of La Toque on the other side of the lake. With a better look, Bruce realized that in fact the school was situated on a large island as the lake stretched all the way around forming a shimmering black ring. The island was big, primarily shrouded by dark forests. Bruce imagined that it would probably take several hours to walk the perimeter of the entire island. Scanning the surroundings Bruce was sure he saw a flicker of golden light breach the shadows of the trees.

"This land contains sacred and beautiful magic." Bruce turned to see Totoba's ghostly form perched atop the tower. "Hello again my child. You yourself have brought some ancient and dark magic to my land. It seems that is where Lox has been hiding these past years."

"I...I know...I didn't want to come here. But I have little choice in my life. The other guy...Lox...just brings destruction. I shouldn't be here."

"I know very well the ways of Lox, a being of unrelenting rage. He and I have crossed paths many times over the years. But you are not Lox, my child, I chose you because you have qualities that I admire, a beautiful mind and a discerning heart. You belong here, however Lox does not. We cannot have him torching our halls with rage."

"So you can stop him like before? Keep him from taking control."

"Alas child I cannot. Lox is a powerful spirit and your bond to him is too strong for me to erase. What I can do is grant you the power of my wings so you can keep the beast away from those you must protect." The great owl spirit spread his mighty wings and gave a great stroke sending energy coursing through Bruce's body.

"What is this?"

"I have granted you my blessing. When Lox's rage begins to take control you can now fly away to a place where he will not cause harm to those he must not."

"Thank you great spirit. Are you sure there is no way you can undo the bond."

"No child, the bond that ties you to that fallen one is a deep and powerful magic. But that bond also is what gives you your power. Learn to control it and you will do marvellous things. Never forget that it is the responsibility of those with power to protect those without."

"How can this curse bring anything but destruction?"

"Magic is not a curse it is a reality. You have great power, greater than even those who guide you. They fear you, they want to try and control you to use your power for their aims. But you have the power to destroy them all, rule them all. Draw on that power and you will reign supreme on earth."

Bruce began to notice the owl's calm composure change and the pure light of the moon started to be tainted with red. Suddenly, the owl spirit exploded into the form of the other guy. In the shock of the moment Bruce lost his footing and slipped backwards off the tower. He could feel his spirit plummeting into the darkness as he stared in horror at the demon laughing into the night. The sky was consumed with a burning rage that began to consume him.

Tony woke after only a couple hours of sleep. It wasn't much of a surprise to the boy who had never been much of a sleeper. He glanced around his room that was hazy with the early morning glow starting to fight its way through the darkness of night. The thrashing body of Bruce caught his attention. His poor roommate must have been having one wicked nightmare judging by the way he writhed in discomfort.

As he wasn't going to be getting any more sleep anyways, Tony hopped out of bed and wandered over to his sleeping companion. He picked up the blankets that had been kicked to the ground and did his best to comfort poor Bruce by gently resting his hand against the boy's forehead. A heavy heat rose from Bruce's skin as Tony's hand approached. At contact Tony hand burned as if he was touching a fire. But Tony didn't let go as the contact seemed to help calm Bruce. As he rested his hand there he could feel an anger growing deep underneath his skin. This was clearly an intense nightmare. Bruce's face was clenched in an expression of sheer panic, as if his soul was being torn apart, that made Tony want to crawl into bed with him and hold him together.

Luckily the contact of Tony's hand seemed to be helping calm Bruce and eventually the other boy's breathing returned to normal. Tony just stared for a moment at his poor roommate who looked so fragile huddled up under his blankets. There was still an hour or two before dawn so Tony walked into the lab and set back to work on their cell phone project which had come a long way thanks to Bruce's help.

Bruce woke several hours later feeling surprisingly calm after the nightmare he had experience. Bruce was no stranger to nightmares, times when his guard was down and the other guy would burn more intensely, so he was almost taken aback by how well rested he felt. There was a refreshing coolness coming from his forehead that relaxed him and made him feel calm. He wrapped himself deeper in the warm mass of blankets and allowed himself to have a second of peace.

Rolling out of bed he took in his room as the morning light streamed in. Bruce inhaled a deep breath and then got ready for his first day of classes. Unsurprisingly he found Tony in the lab.

"Morning roomie, have a nice sleep?" Tony asked cheerfully.

"I guess...Did you even go to sleep? How long have you been up?"

"Long enough...Look at what I've accomplished. Thanks to your brilliance I have gotten it to turn on! Although it still appears to have no service. Whatever that means?"

"Good work Tony. But shouldn't you be dressed, we have class in fifteen minutes."

"Who needs to go to class when we have everything we could possibly need in here. Besides we're so close to finishing our project. Why stop now?"

"We have to go to class Tony. At least if you want to come out of this education with anything. Besides I never got to go to a Young Wizarding Academy as a kid so this is my first day of school and it's kind of a big deal for me."

"Alright already I'm coming. You don't have to give a long sap story and be all adorable and crap. It'll be good to get out and scope the babes. Just give me a sec to get ready. What's our first class anyways?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts with Moose House. It's at the far side of the teaching wing so we better hurry." Bruce was a lot more nervous than he let on. He never had to spend so with so much time with so many other people before. These were the perfect conditions to trigger an appearance from the other guy and that's why there was no way he was going to be able to do this alone. Tony made him feel refreshingly calm, which was a good thing because Bruce really did want to go to school.

Once Tony was all freshened up they booked down the stairs in the direction of the classroom wing. It was their first day and they were already running behind. Luckily they weren't that late when they finally made it and were able to slip into some seats at the back of the class. When they entered Bruce noticed how the nearby students gave him weird looks and shifted further away from him. As he expected the other guy's appearance the previous night had left quite the impression. He knew he shouldn't have come to this school. Tony interrupted his thoughts by supportively grabbing his arm and encouraging him to sit down beside him. Taking a deep breath to relax he focussed his attention on the professor was already in the middle of her introduction speech.

"... subject to specialize in. And that is why these first two years are so important, to take the baby magic you learned at your respective Young Wizarading Academies and to turn it into actually useful knowledge so that you when you leave these halls you are as close as possible to being a competent witch or wizard."

"Damn...I'm glad we came to class." Tony whispered into Bruce's ear, "I didn't know old women could be so hot. I want to plunge my face into her sumptuous cleavage and motorboat until I pass out. "

While Bruce figured their professor was probably only in her 30's, she definitely was very attractive being a buxom blond with icy blue eyes. But for a professor Bruce thought she was rather inappropriately dressed, clad in white leather tights, cape, gloves, and a bustier with matching shoes that caused her to tower over the students, adding even more of an imposing air to her already commandingly voluptuous figure.

"Of these foundational studies, the sad bureaucrats at the Assemblage feel that Defence Against the Dark Arts is the most important and have instructed me to try and impart some of my vast knowledge and experience upon you lot. This was not always the case though. Not long ago the people of The Laurentides were a bunch of pansies ignorant to the danger dark magic poses."

Bruce was caught off guard by the unprofessional and callous way the professor talked to them. However, it did suit her scandalously revealing clothing.

"Now can any of you wimps tell me what happened to cause those fools in charge to change their minds?"

Her piercing blue eyes glared at the class impatiently. A girl in the front row timidly raised her hand. "Ummm was it the Second Wizarding War...?"

"Incorrect. What's your name girl?" The professor snapped and the poor girl looked as if she was going to faint. Eventually she squeaked out her name.

"J...J..Jane F...Foster..."

"The Second Wizarding War happened a millennia ago. There have been hundreds of wars over the ages just like there have been hundreds of dark wizards over the ages who have endangered the balance of life. To this day the threat of dark magic is ever present in our realm. However, the event that Miss Foster so accurately pointed out was the most recent of these dark wizards' attempts at destruction and mayhem. A conflict, which British nationalists refer to as the Second Wizarding War, when Voldemort successfully overthrew the British Ministry of Magic ten years ago. This disaster happened because the wizarding world had grown soft in its vigilance against the dark arts. A decision that cost the lives of hundreds of wizards, witches, magical beasts and beings, and led to the International Statute of Secrecy being violated through the slaughter and persecution of defenceless muggles."

She slammed her fist on the table with great force. "We can never let our guard down to dark magic, or else we are putting all we care about at risk. That is why it is imperative that you slobs train in the defensive arts so that what happened in Britain never happens to us."

Relaxing her expression, the professor plopped herself onto her desk and smiled menacingly at the class. "Now let's see what you punks got. _Stupefy_!" A bright light shot out of her wand and struck Jane Foster in the front row causing her to collapse to the ground. The girl who was sitting beside Jane let out a piercing scream.

"Oh shut up you brat." The teacher chuckled firing another shot to silence her. "Is that the best defence you have. If I were a dark wizard you would all be dead."

Bruce bolted to the door, for the safety of anyone it was best he didn't get stunned.

"Where you going?" She laughed locking the door "You'll miss the lesson." Before one of her spells hit him he quickly cast a shield which exploded on impact sending him flying into the corner. He lay there trying to catch his breath and calm the rage building inside of him. It was better to stay out of this fight he thought and lay low casting a series of shields he had learned over the years.

The rest of the class was dropping like flies, although a few attempted to counter with weak shields of their own. As soon as Jane had been hit Tony bolted towards her.

"You crazy bitch, what did you do that for?" Tony yelled firing a stunning spell at the professor who easily dodged it. Another boy had already reached Jane's unconscious body and was cradling it like a doll. "Move over lover boy before someone gets hurt." Tony snapped.

"This fair maiden requires attention, and no one talks to Thor Odinson that way!" The larger boy thundered back.

"Oh I beg to differ."

"Watch what you say Stark." Thor threatened drawing his wand.

"Bring it Goldilocks." Tony replied wand in hand.

"Oh ho ho what's this we have here? A lover's quarrel." The professor giggled. "I'm sorry boy's am I interrupting?" A spelled hurtled towards the pair but was quickly deflected.

"Step aside, I will avenge Ms. Foster." Thor boomed shoving Tony away.

"Like hell you will, this bitch is mine!" Tony pushed back.

"Both Tony Stark and Thor Odinson, my this girl is lucky. Too bad she's gone" The professor cackled.

"SHUT UP!" Both boys shouted, turning just in time to be blasted by a stunning spell. While the boys were arguing the professor had taken care of the rest of the class who laid strewn about the room. Tony and Thor joined them slamming into the ground with a loud thud.

"Is that everyone? Man that was fun, but boy do these chumps have a long way to go." she mused. "You can come out Banner. Good idea lying low, but I know better than to hit you. I will say that is an impressive shield spell you've got there for your age. Probably is a good thing given that nasty temper you've got."

Bruce slowly stepped out of his hiding place and lowered his shield. He stared quizzically at the ridiculous state of the class.

" Well come on then, let's start reviving them. You know the _Rennervate_ spell right?" She said cheerfully.

Bruce nodded and headed around the room reviving students from their stupor.

"Who the hell does that whore think she is?" Tony fumed as they headed to their next class.

"Emma Frost, she was an emissary to Britain during the Second Wizarding War, they call her the White Witch." Bruce replied adjusting his glasses in an adorably dorky manner.

"More like the White Bitch." Tony snarked and they both burst out laughing.

Their next class was Transfiguration with Fox House. Tony was still a little groggy from the stunning spell and so was relieved when they finally sat down. Luckily the two, arrived in time to grab a good seat and Tony took the moment gauge his bearings.

He gazed at Bruce, who looked a lot more relax than this morning, but he could still see the lines of apprehension in his face and how his hand tensed every time someone walked past. As the first years of Fox House entered Tony was aware of how they kept their distance from Bruce and the awful expressions they would make at his sight. He was about to say something about it when he heard an all too familiar voice behind him.

"Hey bad boy. Is this your new boyfriend? Should I steal his brain too?"

Tony swung around to face the demon chick. "Hello again "Nancy"- If that is even your real name? What happened to your blond pigtails? They looked good on you, really brought out your soullessness."

"Don't need them anymore. I got what I needed. Besides I prefer the red, reminds me of home."

"Home? Oh you mean Hell...What kind of name is Nancy for a demon anyways? Shouldn't you be called like Batibat or Lilith or something?"

"Hmmm maybe I'll start going by Lilith...Speaking of demons aren't you going to introduce me to your boyfriend."

Tony grabbed Bruce's shoulder and dragged him out of his daydreams. "Bruce meet "Nancy" the demon chick. She is 100% evil and has chosen to haunt me in an attempt to steal my perfect mind."

Bruce seemed visibly disturbed by Nancy's intense stare. "Uh...nice to..meet you..." He mumbled.

"Mr. Banner I've heard SO much about you. You feeling alright? You're looking a little green under the skin."

"...uh...I...um...never mind.." Bruce was interrupted by the noise of a large chandelier falling to the ground. However instead of shattering it morphed into the figure of a tall man, the same man who had guided them to the island on Namaew. He stepped to the front of the class and coughed to signal attention, not that it was needed after his flashy entrance.

"Good morning class. My name is Professor Richards and I am the transfiguration master at this academy. Transfiguration is the art of pushing one's magic to its limits to change the very nature of reality. To accomplish this feat requires true skill and is not for the feeble minded. Many of you will fail but those of you who possess a more pure and powerful magic will learn to bend reality to your will. For our lesson today we will be practising basic vanishing and summoning spells. Please divide into partners and takes turns vanishing and then summoning each other's textbooks."

Tony excitedly turned to Bruce, "Bruce, wanna be partners..." only to once again see an empty seat.

"Looks like we get to be partners bad boy," Nancy mocked "You better be careful I don't vanish your clothes."

Bruce sped through the hallway. He needed to get out of the academy fast. Things were going alright this morning, having Tony there definitely helped. But the pressure of having all those people around him, purposefully avoiding him and calling him names behind his back was getting to him. On top of that there was Professor Frost's dangerous introduction, which did nothing to help calm the nerves.

He would have been able to handle it if it wasn't for that Nancy girl. Her stare was just so intense and prying, as if she knew something everyone else didn't. Whatever it was, it drove the other guy crazy. Bruce could feel the burning rage consuming his body, he was on the brink of transformation. But he couldn't transform here, it would cause too much damage, he needed a way out. And then he remembered what Totoba had said in his dream the night before.

"I have granted you my blessing. When Lox's rage begins to take control you can now fly away to a place where he will not cause harm to those he must not."

Bruce focussed on these words and reached for the nearest door. Flinging it open he saw on the other side not the boy's lavatory but a foggy moor. He quickly stepped through and the door slammed behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Who does that Lady of Frost think she is?" Thor's voice boomed down the corridor. "Casting stunning spells at defenceless youth, attacking me. If my father knew about this he would wipe the smile from her pretty face."

"Man but what a face she had, not to mention her body. Are teachers even allowed to be that attractive?" Thor's friend Fandrall piped in. "I hope all our professors dress like that."

"I dearly hope not. Could you imagine Professor Xavier prancing around like some muggle tramp?"

"Thanks for the image ..."

"She was rather beautiful and fierce. A woman worthy of my high esteem, if it wasn't for the deplorable conditions of her upbringing. Being raised by those beasts seems to have made her feral."

"I'll say. She knocked out the entire class as if she was throwing away rubbish. What a punch she packed, my head is still ringing and I was one of the first people to be revived by that odd little Bruce-kid."

"hmm If I recall it didn't appear as if he had been stunned. Did that scrawny man-child manage to thwart her attack?"

"I doubt it. He looks as if a strong breeze might break him. Though I think I remember him cowering in the corner muttering under his breath. I'm telling you there is something queer about him. You saw what happened at the opening ceremony. What was with that wolf demon thing? He doesn't belong at such a fine establishment as this."

"What's queer about him is that he is a coward. What kind of man hides in a corner when his brethren are under attack? A real man would have stood and fought."

"That certainly worked well for you, you lasted for how long? Three minutes maybe?"

"I would have stopped her if that Stark boy hadn't interfered. He is always such a stubborn bastard."

"Sounds like you two are cut from the same cloth." Fandrall laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thor asked quizzically as the pair strutted into their next class.

In comparison to Professor Frost's unconventional lecturing style their next class was dreadfully boring. Actually since it was History of Magic it was dreadfully boring compared to pretty much anything. Poor Professor Summers was trying his best to make the class interesting. The young professor even tried enchanting the centre of the room to display a live action re-enactment of major historical events. However the political treaties between the early French wizards and the Aborigines were only marginally interesting, especially since the professor had yet to make any mention of the Nordics.

Thor cared for little for the other wizarding clans as they were significantly inferior to his mighty Nordic ancestors who were the first to tame this land from the grips of the frost giants. As Summers began describing the Armistice of 1583 Thor gave up even remotely trying to pay attention and rested his head on his desk. He was desperately fighting off the urge to doze off as he felt that it wasn't appropriate to sleep during his first day of classes. However, upon seeing Fandrall passed out beside him, he took that as a sign of approval to join him.

The booming sound of a drum being struck startled Thor awake.

"Well class, it looks like the spirits are summoning us for midday's meal. We will continue with our exploration of the pre-unification era next class." Professor Summers bowed and then dismissed the class.

The rest of the class started packing up their books and making for the door. Thor smacked Fandrall across the head to wake him up.

"Get up my slumbering friend. We do not want to be late for lunch. Hogan and Volstagg are waiting."

With that he grabbed his books and his friend and dragged him out of the class and into the corridor which was filling up with students. The drumming was steadier now and Thor could make out the deep throaty voices of the spirits chanting along with it. A procession of ghosts started joining the migration to the great hall following the guidance of the music. The food was already being served inside the hall and Thor rushed to a table. His friends were already waiting for them at the Moose House table. Although Volstagg was hardly waiting, the big guy had already devoured a plate and a half of food.

"Thor, how goes your first day?" Volstagg inquired through bites.

"Brothers today has been most terrible. My life has been threatened twice."

"I see you met Professor Frost." Volstagg laughed "She always likes to start off with a bang."

"Man would I like to bang her." Fandrall asserted to nods of agreement.

"Does she always begin class like that?"Thor asked.

"Pretty much. It's her way of testing the aptitude of the class. Although she always defeats the class, some years last longer. She made quick work of my year but Hogan's class lasted almost half an hour." Replied Volstagg.

"If anyone could give me a run for my money it was you Thor." Hogan spoke up.

"I put up a good fight."

"Ha, hardly. He spent the entire time arguing over a girl with Tony Stark. She made quick work of them both." Fandrall jibed.

"If I recall she made just as quick work with you." Thor defended himself. "Volstagg you said no one has ever survived her class but someone survived in ours. That Banner guy made it through without a scratch."

"That's impossible." Hogan asserted.

"You mean that weird kid from the opening ceremonies?" asked Volstagg.

"Yeah he's a freak." snapped Fandrall. "He probably cheated or something."

"How dare he commit such dishonour in my presence." Thor boomed. "There is no room in this prestigious academy for rats like him."

"Agreed. If the headmaster won't get rid of him we should."

"Yeah I can't wait to show him my moves."

"I'd have to disagree Fandrall," Thor said playfully, "Your moves are more likely to get him in your bed than out of the school."

Volstagg gave a throaty laugh at that joke, causing Fandrall much embarrassment as he tried to redeem his manly persona. When things had settled Hogan noticed that they were being watched.

"Hey Thor, you appear to have another admirer.

Thor looked where his friend was pointing, "I do not know of this lady."

"Wait I do... she was staring at you all through History of Magic class."

"How would you know that Fandrall? You were asleep all through class."

"I just know. The women are always in my eyes."

"I don't even want to know what that means."

"Your one to talk. I'm not the one who rushed to defend that muggle girl when she got struck by Frost's spell."

"She required aid."

"Right..."

"Fandrall cease your mocking." Volstagg said defensively while grabbing another plate of food, "Thor is a gentleman who protects those in need. His father would be proud that his son is reaching out to the other wizarding clans."

"But she is not from the other clans she is the spawn of dirty muggles." Fandrall barked.

Thor spoke up softly, "Were you right Volstagg we would come from a very different clan as my father is less than favourable to anyone other than those of Nordic ancestry, especially muggles.

"You better be careful with all these women Thor." Hogan warned. "Sif does not take kindly to competition especially not from mudbloods."

"Do not concern yourself with these matters brethren. I've got it under control." Thor said " Besides the year is young, who knows what adventures await us."

"Speaking of adventures, you two must try out for the Moose House Quodpot team." Volstagg announced, "We could use some new recruits now that last year's fifth years have graduated."

"Of course we will join you my brothers." Thor declared, "There would be no greater honour than joining you on the field."

"Besides women love athletes." Fandrall said working his charm.

"Yes but you'll have to do more than bat your eyes to be an athlete." Hogan remarked, "The competition is fierce this year and we need work hard to defend our championship."

"Well no need to call in the professionals."Thor boasted, "As I, Thor, son of Odin am here to dominate."

"Here we go again," Fandrall groaned, "Someone stop him before his ego destroys us all."

"Thor you said your life has been threatened twice today." Vostagg asked " When was the second?"

"Oh that bloody Professor Summers was trying to bore me to death with his tales of history."

A roar of laughter swept across the group as they continued to enjoy their lunch break.

Jeanne-Marie stared mystified at the merriment erupting from across the room. Could those boys possibly be any more disruptive? She just wanted to eat her lunch in peace and quiet..alone...Their expressions of joy confused and frustrated her. What could they possibly be so happy about? They were probably making fun of her. She did see them gesture towards her earlier. Why did she have to be such a freak? All this emotion was overwhelming her, giving her a headache. She stood up to go to her room but was quickly pulled down by Marie.

"Om nom nom isn't he dreamy..." Marie babbled excitedly about Thor. "Just look at those sculpted arms, he's like a god."

"Uhhh I dunno peut-être...uh." Jeanne-Marie was having a hard time focussing due to her headache and Marie's boisterous voice was not helping.

"And that ass, just think of all the fun we could have with that...heehee...Ooooo I bet he's got a big cock too...ehhhehh."

Jeanne-Marie could feel her cheeks getting hot. "Do you have to be tso ...descriptive?"

"Hey don't look at me woman. We all know you've been fangirling over him for ages." Marie teased, "I can see why though, he's fucking ripped. His friends aren't that bad either, except that fat ass one. Hmmm but the others, just imagine rolling around between their hot steamy bodies as they ravage you. You suck away at the one's chiselled jawline while the other two are busy down below preparing your unmentionables to be double pe..."

"Arrete, fillette!" Jeanne snapped, "Je pense que nous avons assez entendu le blasphème de toi. Où as-tu appris cette langage vile? Je dois laver ta guelle avec savon."

"Nice to see you too Jeanne." Marie mocked. "That must have been one terrible flying accident you had to have lodged your broomstick so far up your ass."

"Tu es une démone répungnante!" Jeanne scoffed, "Je ne sais pas pourquoi nous nous associer avec vous."

"Don't look at me. You're the one who interrupted us as we were admiring the blonde little boytoy over there."

"Uh mai...s umf.." Jeanne-Marie sputtered. She was too flustered by the commotion around her.

"You're right Jeanne-Marie, little is the wrong word to describe him. My mistake, how about throbbing."

"Comment pouvez-vous gaspiller votre vie lorgner que païen? Jeanne spat, "Vous avez vu comment il a dormi dans la classe informatif de Professeur Summer. Comment il a interrompu notre sanctuaire d'apprendre avec ses ronflements horribles était suffisant pour lui valoir une sanction sévère de l'assemblage à mon avis."

"Oh did we ever see..." Marie said, dripping with innuendo, "How could you not wuv the way his adorable widdle face looked as he drooled so gracefully over his desk."

"Tu es fou et il es un serment. Nous devons nous disatancier de lui et sa bande de voyous."

"Jeanne for a hag with a broomstick up your ass, you're brilliant." Marie exclaimed, "Come on Jeanne-Marie let's go give the lads a warm welcome and show them what they're missing."

"Absolutely not! That is not what I said you are an evil witch who twists my words." Jeanne shouted harshly.

"I... .. .ummm." Jeanne-Marie didn't know what to say, she was too caught up in the other girls drama. Before she knew it Marie had grabbed her arm and was dragging her over to Thor and his friends ignoring Jeanne's increasing protests.

"Hello boys!" Marie announced with energy as she slapped Fandrall on the ass. They all turned startled to face her. She took the opportunity to grab Thor's face and plant a lustful kiss on his lips. As she slowly pulled away she moved to his side and whispered something into his ears. His already surprised features suddenly went an alarming shade of pink and a sheepishly adolescent expression appeared on his face.

"See you round boys." She said seductively, winking slyly at Fandrall and then quickly turned and left leaving Jeanne-Marie standing equally flabbergasted.

Jeanne-Marie suddenly became aware of the silence that had gripped the hall and realized that everyone's eyes were glued on her, causing her to go weak in the knees. Hogan was giving her a puzzled look that was almost unbearable. Turning an even brighter shade of pink than Thor she tried to explain herself but was unable to make a noise. Standing there awkwardly she could hear the seconds slowly tick away along with her sanity.

The silence was ended by a cough from Jeanne which startled enough sense into her legs for her to bolt out of the room. Running frantically across the campus she didn't stop until she had reached the farthest corner from the great hall. There was a mighty oak at this end of the campus and she collapsed underneath it. Jeanne and Marie followed soon behind bickering.

"C'était la chose la plus ridiculement irresponsable que j'ai jamais vu que vous faites." Jeanne yelled angrily at Marie, "Tu n'as aucune morale, tu bas putain de classe."

"Shut up you stiff bitch!" Marie snarked back, "Jeanne-Marie wanted to talk to him, all I did was give her an introduction. If you had it your way you would have ripped out her ovaries so she wouldn't feel any unpure sensations. She's a growing girl, she needs to live a little, and I'm helping her do that. Right?"

"Allez, both of you!" Jeanne-Marie spoke up for the first time, "J'veux be toute seule." She buried her face in her arms and cried fiercely as if the sky was pouring down on her, which it wasn't. Instead it was a gloriously clear day with a bright warm sun that beamed down on her, because pathetic fallacy is a bitch and even nature wants to screw with Jeanne-Marie's life.

"Why did I just stand there?" she sobbed to herself, "Why can't things ever be easy? Why can't I be normal?"

Her self-pity session was interrupted by an ominous howling in the distance. It sounded tortured and lonely, and resounded deep within her. Finally she had found something as full of anguish as her mind. As eerie as the noise was it almost brought her comfort, and she cherished it dearly. Despite it being so far away, Jeanne-Marie felt as if it was howling right beside her and she pretended to join in. And so she spent the rest of the break sitting beneath an oak tree under a brilliant sun howling at the world, which hated her so.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

When Bruce hadn't shown up by lunch Tony started to get concerned. He sped out of the great hall and made for the upper reaches of Totoba's Perch. Why had he gone out of his way to get a room that was at the top of the tallest tower on campus? It was such a inconveniently far distance away from everything and all those stairs required an unreasonable amount of effort to climb. Once he found Bruce, he would have to develop some kind of transportation charm that would waste less of his precious time and energy.

Tony was unpleasantly sweaty when he finally burst into their room. Alas Bruce was not there, nor in the lab, however Tony's batch of Invigoration Draught was coming along nicely. If he was going to continue searching for his roommate maybe he would take a swig, but first he needed a shower. Tony wasn't one for intense spurts of physical activity, and before he could carry on scouring the campus he needed some me-time.

Once he felt suitably refreshed, Tony skipped down the tower and ventured again into the heart of campus. Luckily classes had resumed so the halls were vacant and pleasantly peaceful. He was relieved he wouldn't have to fight his way across campus through crowds of people. Tony didn't really care that he was skipping class as he figured he probably already knew the bulk of what was being taught. Besides it just didn't feel right for him to finish their first day of school without Bruce who had convinced him to come in the first place with his sappy story and shy smile.

The giant flame was still roaring in its hearth, when Tony entered the great hall. Without any occupants the room appeared cavernous allowing the fire to fill more of the space. Seeing no Bruce, he strolled across the room to an open door. The door led down a short set of stairs into the kitchens. A pungent aroma of dried sage and nutmeg greeted him as he entered the dimly lit stone chambers. Ancient oak barrels lined the walls of them which added to the warm and inviting atmosphere of the lightly burning stove fires. To his left a door led into a large storeroom. Tony peaked inside to see a giant barrel, as tall as a tree.

"Holy fuck.." He gasped in amazement, "That's a shit ton of wine..."

"Actually its ale.." A deep hearty voice called out from behind him " brown ale to be precise."

Tony turned to see the hulking form of the master chef towering above him.

"The name's Hogan, but you can call me Happy," Began the large man, "You're that Stark kid... Tony right?" Tony nodded slowly, he was more than a little bit confused by what was going on.

"Hmmm Stark, that's a Brit name..." The chef continued, grabbing a bronze tankard and filling it to the brim will dark liquor from the massive cask. "Here try some, it's from Liverpool, 1791." The glass looked tiny in his massive hands as he passed the drink to Tony.

Seeing alcohol in front of him, Tony snapped back to his senses and he enthusiastically grabbed the glass, "Finally, someone who speaks my language." he said before downing the ale. The familiar burn of liquor as it passed down his throat was refreshing and he let out a loud satisfied belch once he had finished.

"Man you don't know how badly I needed that. But wait won't Xavier of Fury be mad that you're giving a minor liquor?"

"I'm a freaking half-giant, why should I care what they think. This kitchen is my kingdom, I rule here, not Xavier or Fury. And besides you're not just some minor, you're a Stark. Your father saved my mother and I during the Giant rebellion 15 years ago. I owe you guys my life... so drink away."

"On any other day I would, but I have somewhere I have to be..."He replied, thinking of Bruce and for a brief second a flash of anxiety shone through his otherwise beaming expression. "But I will take you up on that offer some other time?"

"Anytime Master Stark, you are always welcome in my kitchen. I will gladly prepare a feast for you any day."Tony then bowed respectfully to the master chef and left the kitchen in the direction of the western wing.

"Happy's" comments had left him rather confused. He could never imagine his father showing compassion towards anyone, especially giants, because he definitely never showed any to Tony. Or maybe that was it, his father was too busy in the affairs of the realm to bother with his family. Whatever, he was not going to dwell on this, he came to this academy to escape his father's influence. At least he wouldn't have to worry about finishing his education sober. He had finally found a steady supply of liquor, several thousand pints worth. At long last Tony was reaping the benefit of his father's supposed "kindness". Better late than never he thought

.

Most of the western half of campus was classrooms and Tony figured Bruce wouldn't be in any of them as they were filled with upper year lectures and seminars. However, beyond the classes was the greenhouses and gardens. Tony thought that there might be a zen garden or something Bruce could have gone to, to nap or meditate or whatever ridiculously miserable people do to relax. When he stepped outside into the remnant gardens from summer he saw on the far side a girl wailing under a tree.

"What the fuck?" he swore to himself, "Is that, that french girl?...Jan-Mary or something like that...Man she is some kind of crazy." Tony decided that engaging an insane person was not the best course of action and decided to search the eastern wing instead or rather anywhere else but here.

It took him a good ten minutes to navigate his way to the opposite side of campus. The main feature of the eastern wing was the astral tower, which stood on top of a cliff overlooking the sea. Meanwhile, the rest of the eastern wing existed as an underground tunnel of offices connecting the tower to central campus. Unfortunately at present the entrance to the tunnel was guarded by several of the Chairman's men. Tony didn't want to risk being seen by them and given some kind of unusual punishment so he lay in the shadows and reconsidered his strategy.

"Shouldn't you be in class mister Stark?" Called a voice from behind, which caused him to jump and ruin his composure.

"Who the fuck are you?" Tony whispered angrily at the older youth who had ambushed him. "And why does everyone have to keep flipping sneaking up on me?"

"Philip Coulson, second year prefect, Bear House." The boy replied stiffly, "I'll ask you again, shouldn't you be in class?"

"I..uh..what's it to you?" Tony barked

"Skipping class is a serious offense mister Stark. As a prefect it is my duty to uphold the law of these halls to protect my fellow classmates and the integrity of this fine institution." Coulson informed with much passion and gusto. Tony could tell this guy really got a kick out of being a glorified hall monitor.

"And things do not look good for you, Anthony, what with you sneaking suspiciously around the eastern wing, which is blocked off for the week by the way as Chairman Fury meets with Headmaster Xavier. This infraction could land you a penalty of at least 50 demerit points for Owl House. I'm sure your housemates would not appreciate that loss."

"What points are you talking about?" Tony asked quizzically at the windbag in front of him.

"Were you not paying attention at the opening ceremony? The points system is one of the most integral parts of the school year. Without it what would the houses receive to commemorate their hard work? The house with the most points at the end of the year wins a prize of upmost glory, and the competition for this glory is only the most honoured school tradition at the National Academy."

Tony had no idea where this guy was making up this trash from but he was pretty sure there was no points system. Tony had paid upmost attention during the opening ceremony, due to the unusual theatrics that took place, and could recall no mention of such a system and especially no mention of a "glory" prize.

"You're making this crap up."

"How dare you speak so slanderous of this honourable tradition." Coulson spat, clearly offended by Tony's remark. "It is troublemakers like you that ruin the fun for everyone. I am highly inclined to give your house demerit points right now, for skipping class and abusing an officer of the halls."

"Woah woah, okay now no need to get your panties tied up." Tony tried to calm him, he definitely did not want to get in any trouble, real or imaginary. "Here listen I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend. I just didn't know, I must have missed that part of the ceremony..or something." Tony's mind was racing he needed a lie and fast

"I..um I am skipping class right now, buuuuut that is because I am doing an extracurricular assignment for umm... Professor Frost and all in the...library!" he said pointing down the hall to the library's entrance.

"Hmmm fine, I'll let you off this time, being that it is the first day of class and you are a first time offender and all. But be more respectful in the future, the rules are the backbone of this institution. Truancy hurts us all Stark, so tread carefully. Now hurry on."

Tony quickly scurried off into the library. He really hoped Coulson wouldn't try and do some follow up with Professor Frost, but he figured even if he did she probably would just whoop his ass.

He was actually planning on checking the library out next anyways to do some research. It was most likely hopeless to continue the search for Bruce as the campus was immense and he hadn't even started on the grounds surrounding it, so it was time for plan B.

Ever since he had seen Bruce's "show" his mind had been running a mile a minute trying to figure out his roommate's dark secrets. One of the main reasons he worked so hard to get the room in the first place was to better observe the mystery boy.

A more humble person would have probably just asked upfront, but Tony was anything but humble. He had to figure Bruce out on his own terms and as of yet he was clueless, a fact that drove Tony crazy. That is why he figured checking the library would be a good place to start as it contained one of the largest and oldest collections of information in the realm. Besides there was something about Bruce that made Tony feel that a direct approach would only scare him away. And if there was anything Tony didn't want, it was for Bruce to retreat back into his darkness, especially before Tony got to know him better.

The library was four stories of countless tomes snugly stored in cascading bookshelves. In the centre of the space was a grand staircase, which wrapped its way up each floor. A kaleidoscope of coloured light shone through the massive stained-glass window on the far wall, which contained the images of the four guardian spirits. Their ghostly figures drew Tony's mind back to their battle the previous evening with that thing that sprouted from Bruce. If there was any information on Bruce's condition it would be in this room.

"Excuse me, may I help you?" asked the young ginger girl at the front desk.

"Why hello miss. You look too young to be wasting away your beauty working here." Tony tried to reply as charmingly as he could. It wasn't really working.

"Oh I just work here on Wednesdays, Fridays, and during my spare rather than take second year potions." she spoke softly and her voice gently ringed through the airy chamber. "You look familiar...are you on your spare yourself right now?"

"Uh yeah...I'm doing a little extra-curricular project right now and I need some more resources."

"Well okay then, what exactly are you looking for?"

"Well actually I'm looking for my roommate. He got kidnapped by this giant wolf monster and what not and I've been searching for him all day. You wouldn't by chance happen to have a book on finding lost roommates?"

"I'm sorry... What?" She asked flabbergasted.

"Yes you're right, who in their right mind would write a book on that? Hokay then. How about demons? Does this library contain any literature on our otherworldly frenemies?"

"Uhhhhhh..."

"You are the librarian right now, am I right? or is there some house elf or something I'm supposed to inquire to? Because I haven't got all day. Lives are at stake."

"Oh excuse me!" She blurted anxiously, "Hmmm you're searching for demons right? I don't know, I'll have to ask the Colonel." She mumbled as she opened the book in front of her, "Excuse me Colonel this young man is looking for any books on the subject matter of demons."

The pages began to turn rapidly on their own. Suddenly the book gave a loud belch before it lay still on the desk once more. The noise cut through the silence of the room causing several paintings to Shhh furiously until the silence had returned.

"I apologize, it appears we have no literature on that particular subject. It does appear however that there are some works of fiction that reference demons. Would you like me to show you where they are?"

"No thanks madam." Tony said lost in thought. If demons didn't exist outside of children's fairy tales than what was that thing that came out of Bruce? The guardian spirits seemed to recognize it perhaps they could be the key to finding more.

"Do you have any books on bird brain and his friends over there?" Tony stated, loosely pointing at the image in the window.

"What? Ohhhh... one second please. Colonel this time we're looking for any books on the guardian spirits." This time the book lifted up and began flapping across the room. "It looks like we have books on that subject on the third floor. If you follow the Colonel, he will show you more precisely."

"Why thank you miss...I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Oh it's Potts, Pepper Potts but you can call me Pepper." She uttered, blushing slightly.

"Okay then, thank you indubitably Miss Potts...I mean Pepper. You have done me a most marvellous service. Perhaps I'll see you again on less dire circumstances." He said with a wink and then started up the grand staircase following the flapping form of the book.

The Colonel led him to an aisle of massive tomes on the far side of the third floor before slamming shut and falling back to the first floor where it landed with a loud thud on the front desk, which elicited another wave of shhhhes.

Tony scanned the books for one that might be useful. _Guarding for an Eternity: A History of the Guardian Spirits by Charles Xavier, Hottah and Ethnicity by Marius St. Croix , The Spirits and Na To'q by Stephen Strange, Turtle Island: Land of the Spirits by Stephen Strange, The Adventures of Muwin by Marius St. Croix, The Guardian Spirits and their Brethren: A Guide to the Spirit World and the Spirits that Occupy it by Erik Lehnsherr_.

The last one caught Tony's attention and he pulled it from the shelf with great difficulty as the book was as immense as its title. He carried it over to a nearby chair and made himself comfortable before opening it. Judging by the size of the book this was going to take a while.

_The Guardian Spirits and their Brethren: A Guide to the Spirit World and the Spirits that Occupy it By Erik Lehnsherr_

Tony took a deep breath and turned to the first page.

_This world is an illusion. The real world is a world of immensely powerful beings more commonly known as the Spirit World. All that we experience in the Muggle and Magical Worlds is in fact governed by the spirits. Even our innate magical power draws its origins from the Spirit World. The ancestral Aborigines were aware of this fact and lived their lives in reverence to the spirits. However, our European ancestors have been more oblivious to this notion. That is because the Spirit World lies largely in mystery to mortals. Very rarely will the spirits make themselves known to the beasts and beings of our world._

_The original members of the four great wizarding clans looked to the Spirit World when founding this realm. They made a contract with the guardian spirits of these lands to create The Laurentides, a wizarding realm in harmony with the spirits. Some of these spirits are more well known to us today such as those that guard the wizarding communities of Frontenac, Salem and Ville-Marie and those that guard the Assemblage and the National Academy. However, over the history of our realm we have come to know countless spirits which are catalogued in the subsequent pages. By understanding these spirits we can better understand the world we live in._

_Aakuluujjusi_

_The white maiden spirit. According to northern communities it only appears on a full moon on the winter solstice. Takes the form of a beautiful maiden with the body of a white whale. Protects the waters of Ungava Bay._

_Abaangui_

_A lesser spirit associated with the moon. Is missing his nose and travels across the land in search of it. Has been known to steal the noses of humans but is more fond of Troll noses._

_Achi_

_Is associated with lightning. Has a twin Spirit called Ahayuta who is associated with thunder. Can be summoned by carving an effigy out of wood that has been struck by lightning. Was once summoned by Ymir to assist in the Nordic conquest against the frost giants._

Tony spent the rest of the afternoon perusing through pages of Kwatee, Sedna and Wakan-Tanka. He was so immersed in the book that didn't bother getting up when the drums started for supper. The rest of the library quickly vacated. Even the paintings disappeared to other frames that Tony guessed were in the great hall.

By then he was roughly two thirds through the book and was still rather clueless as to what resided inside of Bruce. He had run across several wolf-like spirits such as Chibiabos, Malsum, and Rou-garou but they all were lesser spirits and seemed too weak to be able to take on four of the greatest spirits in the realm at the same time. He could hardly imagine one of these puny spirits whipping Kueshu across the ground or being able to tackle Muwin and Hottah in a matter of seconds.

He sighed heavily. Even if he managed to figure out the what he was still no closer to figuring out the how or the why. Perhaps he should research possession next. With all these questions he was going to have to spend a lot more time in here than he originally thought. He probably would have to postpone his cell phone project to make time for research.

"Skipping class, my my you are turning out to be quite the bad boy." A familiar redhead said as she swung down from the beams above him. "So this is where you've been hiding all day."

"Still stalking me I see, "Nancy". You know there are easier ways to get my autograph." He said as mockingly as possible, with added emphasis on her name.

"What you're looking for isn't in there."

"What makes you say that?"

"I already read it," She replied confidently, "Along with most of the rest of the shelf too. By and large, useless stuff, the work of that St. Croix guy can barely be called english. I could hardly make sense of his work. And Strange is an stuck up prick who thinks he knows all the answers."

"Well that was a waste of a day then." he lamented, "What are you doing reading up on the guardian spirits anyways?"

"You know exactly why." She cooed into his ear, "By the way where's your boyfriend at? Did he wander off and get lost?"

"I dunno, but since you seem to know everything why don't you enlighten me?"

"See this is what's got me so intrigued as he's not on campus and the grounds are surrounded by Fury's guards who would have easily spotted him. On top of that there is an anti-disapparition jinx on this entire island, so unless he's invisible, I have no idea of where he wandered off to."

"Well excellent, notify me when you find out. I would love to stay and chat about all your crackpot theories but it's been a long day so I am going to go take a nap." He stated enthusiastically as he headed down the stairs.

"Wait!" she called after him "Aren't you hungry? You already skipped lunch and most of supper."

"Ha ha it appears you don't know everything Nancy since being as famous as I am I have a private caterer. Besides its almost over, you'll be lucky to get scraps. Actually if I were you I would mosey on down to the great hall stat before you miss it all together."

"Enjoy these perks while they last you're walking a dangerous path. Banner brings nothing but dark tidings."

"So I hear. I'll see you round Nancy, don't go haunting someone else. I want to feel special."

"Don't worry Tony, I only haunt bad boys."

Her last words stuck into his mind as that was the first time she had called him by his first name.

By the time he had made it to the entrance to Totoba's Perch he was starting to reconsider skipping supper as his stomach had groaned like a bitch the entire walk there. Hopefully, he would be able to sneak some food from Happy later.

When he touched the image of the great owl engraved into the white stone wall, the carving glowed a light blue and the owl spread its wings and flew away taking the wall with it. On the other side of the wall was the common room and as he entered he came face to face with a very unimpressed looking dark haired girl sitting crossly in the centre of the room. Once the entrance had shut behind him she stood up and marched directly towards him, grabbing him by the cuff of his shirt.

"So you're that little shit faced Stark child everyone is talking about." She hissed at him.

"Yes hello, nice to meet you too...?"

"The name's Sif and I'm house prefect. While you normally probably get a free ride hiding behind daddy's money and fame, none of that is going to fly in my house, so listen up." She spat,

"Coulson's been telling me you were sketching around earlier when you should have been in class. Said he almost gave Owl House some demerit points. Now if there is one thing I won't allow it's fucking demerit points so don't fucking let it happen again or you'll have to deal with me. Got it pretty boy?"

"You do realize there is no points system and no prizes. These demerit points literally mean nothing." Tony stated bluntly fixing his shirt.

"Are you giving me sass boy?"

"No why would I ever dare sass a beautiful and refined lady such as yourself?"

"Damn first years, you're a bunch of troublemakers, the whole lot of yall. Geez you're just as bad as your roommate."

"You've seen him!" Tony gasped excitedly.

"Yeah the scrawny whelp got in a fight or something earlier, he looked bloody terrible. I had to scold him for roughhousing but you should have seen the stare in his eyes. A freaking nightmare that boy is."

"Really! Where did he go?"

"He's off hiding in your room. I wouldn't mess with him, there is definitely something off about him."

Tony booked past her and bolted up the stairs to their room. He could faintly hear her barking threats after him but his mind was not paying attention. Flinging open the door he finally found Bruce lying on his bed, his face buried in his pillow like the night before.

Tony tried to restrain his desire to jump on Bruce and stood in the doorway awkwardly gaining his bearings.

"They're nice pillows, eh...Made from Bavarian goose feathers and hand-stitched by authentic omas I believe." He managed to make out, "Can you smell the scent of lovely old ladies?"

Bruce gave a muffled laugh into the pillow before slowly sitting up and facing Tony. He did look like a wreck. Tony couldn't help but wonder what terrible things he had been up to all day.

"Uh...hi Tony..." Bruce mumbled through a weak smile, "Look... sorry about ditching you earlier.."

"Yeah thanks a trillion, leaving me there with that demon lady." Tony could see Bruce flinch at the word demon, "You know she made me do all the work. Worst. Partner. Ever!"

"Sorry...I ..I had an ... medical emergency to deal with..."

"Ya ya I get it, being around normal people can be rather disgusting. What with all their noises and inferior thoughts. I myself had to go seek refuge in the library for most of the day."

"So much for my first day of school..." Bruce said glumly.

"Hey cheer up there's always tomorrow. And the day after that. Hell we have the next five years to figure this out and I'm willing to commit to this quest if you are."

"I dunno Tony, Today was really rough. I don't think I'm up for it."

"Don't worry about it right now. What's more important is that you're feeling okay, or more accurately that you're feeling well enough to eat, as I skipped supper and I'm starving."

Bruce looked a little stunned at how nonchalant Tony was being, but then his thoughts moved to his stomach which was moaning away like a bowhead whale in heat. He looked up, smiled softly and said, "Actually food sounds wonderful, I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"Excellent! Because it just so happens that my ancestors made a blood oath with the master chef to lavish me with ten feasts and I have seven more to go. So if you would be so pleased as to follow me down into the kitchens I will use one of my remaining seven credits to give you a food coma so big you'll sleep like a hibernacula of garter snakes."

"There is no way that can be true."

"Yeah but it's close enough." Tony said cheerfully and the two ventured down into the kitchens where Tony had Happy rustle up some food for them as he tried to no avail to convince Bruce to join him in a pint of Happy's brown ale.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

Thor stood at the edge of a frozen lake in the middle of a barren icy wilderness. The air was freezing out and bit at his skin, while the bitter wind whipped at his long golden hair. He attempted to bury himself deep in his cloak and escape the unceasing cold. The glow of a warm light drew his attention to the centre of the lake. Carefully he etched his way across the lake, trying not to slip. As he got closer he realized the light was coming from deep beneath the surface, its warmth so far away. A lapse in focus caused him to lose his balance and he collapsed on the ice. He lay there grasping towards the light as the darkness overcame him.

The sound of crunching snow alerted him to the presence of a horde of frost giants encircling him. He drew his wand and attempted to fight back but there were too many of them and they quickly overpowered him. Before he had lost all hope a dark shadow covered the area and the massive form of his father appeared. With one fell swoop his father sent several of the giants flying across the wilderness. Thor just stood there in awe as his father made quick work of the rest of them. He felt ashamed that he was so weak in comparison to his father.

When all the giants lay defeated in the snow Thor's father stood towering in the wilderness, staring disappointedly at him through his one good eye. The shadow of his father's hulking form weighed heavily on Thor and he felt his inner shame grow stronger. A three-tailed fox, like looked vaguely familiar, crept out of the darkness and curled up at the base of his father. It was an oddly peaceful scene, the old man standing in the snow with the animal resting at his feet.

However, when his father bent over to pet the creature, it abruptly burst into the flames and a dark red fire quickly spread across the wilderness. The beast wrapped its way up his father's body, setting his eye patch aflame. Thor watched in horror as his father succumbed to the demon and became a raging inferno. The firestorm surrounded him as the extreme heat burned at him. He could only scream in horror as the demon that was once his father reached towards him with its flaming hands.

"Come on Thor get up." Fandrall yelled into his ears, "Tryouts for quodpot start soon."

"Uhh what?" Thor said groggily.

"How did you fall asleep in Charms class? I mean look at that rack on Professor Grey. And that red hair mmmmmm I never knew a ginger could start a fire in my loins."

"Fire!" Thor's mind was still consumed by his dream, the flames burning in his head. He snapped back to the real world and his friends waiting expression. "Ohhhh you were being perverted again."

"I am not a pervert. A player maybe... I prefer to refer to myself as a connoisseur of women."

"Whatever you say my friend... Now what were you going on about quodpot tryouts?"

"Only that they start now, so let's pick up the pace sleepy."

They rushed off towards the pitch at the north side of campus. Volstagg and Hogan were already there directing new recruits.

"Hoi comrades shall we get this started." Thor hollered.

"Hurry up you schlups, you're late." Volstagg scolded. "Captain Balder would not be impressed by this behaviour."

"Ha ha my big friend, I have never seen you so serious"

"I was never assistant captain before." the larger guy replied. "And I take my new responsibilities seriously."

"Yeah super serious..." Hogan chirped in, "He's only given out three hugs today."

"So when do we start?" Thor asked "My heart longs to play."

"Me too, I can't wait to show off my new moves to the ladies." Fandrall said excitedly. "Speaking of ladies, where the hell are they? I can spot only one chick in the stands. Though what a chick, check out her hair. What is it with me and the gingers today?"

Thor looked up to where his friend was gesturing and saw a girl with a serious expression and flaming red hair. Her hair burned into his mind bringing up images of the raging inferno and his father's flaming eye.

"Okay gather round everyone, let's get this tryout officially started." Volstagg clapped.

The recruits grouped up around the older players, who were already armoured up in gear.

"We have three openings this year on the Moose house team," the big guy boomed, "So play hard because we can't pick all of you, as much as I would like to. Now where shall we begin?"

"This ladies and gentlemen, is a quod." Hogan instructed as he tossed a leather ball into the air, " Thanks to our old friend Mr. Peasegood, it has been enchanted to explode at any second."

"The goal of the game is to get the quod into the pot before it explodes." Volstagg continued, pointing out a large cauldron suspended on top of a tower in the centre of the pitch. "Each time you do, your team scores a point. The pot contains a potion which will negate the bursting enchantment on the quod...for an unknown amount of time. The timer can also be reset by flying through one of the hoops at either end however, no point will be awarded. Hmmmm Now is that everything? Oh, wait before you can score a point you must clear the quod across this line usually completed by passing it to a teammate in our zone."

"Excuse me," A taller kid in the back asked, "What happens if the ball explodes while it is your hand? Because...explosions seem kind of dangerous you know and I don't want to lose any limbs or be disembowelled or something."

"Haha how could I forget." The larger guy chuckled, "If it explodes, well you're out. If the entire opposing team gets out, we win, and vice versa. We also win if we score ten points of course. These two ways to win make for a fast paced, high impact sport full of complicated strategies."

"Quodpot is an intense physical sport." Hogan stated coolly, sizing up the new recruits. "At any moment the quod could explode sending you crashing into the ground. Meanwhile opposing players will be constantly crashing into you trying to get control of the field. You need to be tough if you want to play this sport, this isn't a game for the weak."

"Then why is this child here?" Thor nudged the small boy next to him, "He's so tiny. Can he even lift a broom?"

"Touche-moi pas!" The boy yelled back.

"What's this? A little Frenchie is trying to play with the big guys." Fandrall jeered. "Didn't you hear the man? Quodpot is not for weaklings. Why don't you try Quiddich?"

"Yeah!" Thor nodded in agreement, "This is Mouse House, Nordics rule here. What are you even doing in this house you little French mouse?"

This sparked a roar of laughter from the group, which was overwhelmingly comprised of large Nordic youth.

"Or should I say you _petite souris_?"

This seemed to severely distress the boy and he tried to run off but was blocked by a wall of Nordic man meat. The group began shoving hum around and mocking him through a terribly off tune rendition of Frére Jacques.

Their actions did not go unnoticed by Jean-Paul who glared angrily from the other side of the pitch where Fox House was having their tryouts. If there was anyone he truly despised in the world it was bullies. He had spent much of his life in an endless war against bullies who always picked on those who were queer, weird or odd, those who just didn't fit in. Jean-Paul had always been a target for them, because he was "different". it was especially bad in the world of sports where machismo and manliness were idolized.

Luckily for him, he turned out to be really good at sports, especially the ones on brooms. He had a knack for flying and possessed a speed and agility that made him a star at L'Academie des Sorciers du Mont-Royal. He used his popularity to deflect the suspicions about him and keep bullies at bay. Yet he still remembered the sting of those words and the self hatred that thrived in those lonely hours.

He winced as an elbow jabbed the short boy in the back, the boy's face cringing in pain. A face he recognized as Alaine Racine, one of his old enemies from Ville Marie. Despite whatever sins committed against him in his past, Jean-Paul couldn't stand watching someone get unjustly hurt. He hated bullying even if it was be against one of his former bullies.

As a large blonde youth winded up for a punishing blow to the gut, Jean-Paul sprang into action. He grabbed a broom and zoomed over to the gang, quickly snatching the quod from the chubby fingers of the most portly fellow and whipping it into the aggressor's face.

"Arrêtez!" He yelled.

"Asswipe, how dare you attack Councilman Odin's son." One of the youth snapped.

"It's okay the manling barely hit me, for one with such spirit he lacks the strength to match."

"It looks like another one of these French losers has the hots for you." A tall boy jeered at Alaine, "Ain't that right Frenchie."

Alaine gave Jean-Paul a distasteful look and spat at him. "Va chier! Esti d'tapette de calisse!"

"Sounds like a feisty relationship. Real hot." A short handsome one laughed, "Shall we join the happy couple?...in heaven.."

Strong hands firmly gripped onto Jean-Paul restraining him as the gang cornered him menacingly.

"Get your hands off my recruit!" The Fox House captain, Peggy barked. The rest of the team had flown over in support. "Why does Mouse House always have to be full of you Nordic assholes? Do they only breed arrogance and bigotry on your island? Volstagg get a hold of your new recruits before I report you and get your team disqualified for the entire season. Does Balder know about this?"

"Sorry ma'am..." The plump one said meekly, "That's enough boys. Let em go."

"Hold it, he attacked us first. This sad excuse for a man chucked a quod at my face. If my father knew about this you would not be saying such slanderous things about our people this way."

"Can it twinkle toes. Do not talk to me about manhood if you are going to be acting in such a childish manner. I don't give a damn about your heritage." Peggy chided, grabbing him by his cuff, "I will not accept bullying on my pitch especially towards one of my most promising new recruits. Your people have such a bad rep in my books because you've earned it. What with behaviour like this, actively beating up a member of your own freaking house. Who raised you, you spoiled little prick."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Do you know who this is?" She said gesturing at Jean-Paul, "He's a star player from L'Academie des Sorciers du Mont-Royale. He was at the top of the junior league last year."

"Ha that man-child! Look at how small and weak he is."

"There is more to quodpot than brute size and strength you oaf."

"Oh really... prove it."

"I have the right mind to smack you right now."

"Bring it!"

"Woah Woah cool it tykes." Chairman Fury broke through the tense crowd of youth, "Save that energy for the opening game."

He strode into the middle of the group and slowly bent down to pick the quod up from the ground.

"But if yall are so set on smashing each other's brains out how bout you amuse me with a small scrimmage. First one to score wins. I'll give you five minutes to get ready."

Everyone stared in awe at the powerful man's proposal. A soft voice broke the standstill.

"I'll play" Said the red haired girl who had been watching the commotion from the stands. The golden haired asshole appeared visibly disturbed by her presence, a stark contrast to his boastful confidence moments earlier. "I wanna show these boys a thing or two about how tough a fox can be."

"Alright go, entertain me you little punks!" Fury lauded.

Everyone rushed into their gear and grabbed their brooms. Jean-Paul was excited to destroy these bullies who he bet would be struggling to keep up.

"There probably isn't a better way to test your guys ability than to whoop these assholes." Peggy announced to the new recruits, "Make your house proud."

Fury was acting as referee and he stood impatiently at the sidelines. Nodding to the team leaders he blew the whistle to start and tossed the quod high into the air.

Jean-Paul darted across the pitch and caught the ball. He knew he could outfly any of these jerks. He soared high into the air and made for the pot in the centre hoping to end this scrimmage quickly. He raised his arm and made to score when two large Moose recruits crashed into his sides. The immense force of their mass crushed his ribs and he dropped the quod. The blonde douche from earlier made to catch it when the red headed chick snatched it from his grasp. He should have had it but for some reason he stalled at the sight of her, making the steal possible.

The girl flew towards the pot with haste as the quod had started to flash, signalling the impending explosion. Inches from the rim, she made a toss but rather than go into the pot, the quod instead shot in the opposite direction... towards Fury.

The chairman had only seconds to react and just barely deflected the quod before it detonated with a huge shock wave that sent dirt and dust flying across the pitch. Jean-Paul struggled to stay on his broom against the force of the blast as he was still recovering from the Moose assault.

"That's the explosion!" one of the new recruits exclaimed, "What kind of game is this?"

"I don't think I can play this game," another stated anxiously, "I promised my mom I wouldn't die at school this year."

Fury slowly picked himself up from the ground. A large crater had been carved out of the pitch where he formerly stood. That was close...Too close...The explosion from a quod should have been nowhere near as powerful as that. It must have been jinxed as this was no accident. The ball had changed direction, it had targeted him. Someone at this school didn't want him to leave alive. He stormed off in the direction of the headmaster's office, there were things that needed to be discussed now. Disappointingly he would have to shorten his trip as things were progressing far faster than he had expected. The Council needed to act before this got out of hand. The Laurentides had already lost one Chairman this year, peace would not last long if that quod had hit its target.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Bruce couldn't believe a week was almost up and he was still here. After their failed attempt at having Bruce's first day of school Tony had made it his mission to get him through a whole day of classes. A feat Bruce thought impossible after how easily he had transformed after just one glare from that mysterious red haired girl.

But Tony had insisted, through bites of leftover broiled duck he had somehow managed to get the master chef to scrounge up for them. Not normally one to eat a lot of meat (it reminded him too much of the other guy and his tendency to devour anything living in sight) Bruce found himself hungrily eating away at the duck. Transformations always left him famished and Tony's super energetic presence was helping to keep the other guy's urges at bay.

Bruce was so thankful for all that his roommate was doing for him. No one had invested this much in him in a long time. However, there was no way this could go on much longer. The other guy was too dangerous and Bruce didn't want any more blood on his hands, especially Tony's.

But for right now, Bruce just wanted to be selfish, at least for a moment, something he hadn't let himself do in ages. The joy of having someone care about him was so precious and he didn't want to lose it... just yet.

Perhaps he could at least wait until they had accomplished their mission of finally completing Bruce's "first day of school". Tony was just so excited and frankly some of his ridiculous energy and excitement was rubbing off on Bruce. He couldn't deny how important this was to him. All those dark nights spent crying alone, wishing to go to school and be a normal kid. Yes Bruce was being very selfish right now and it felt good.

Their quest was going a lot more difficultly than Tony had expected, but he still refused to give up and would practically throw Bruce out of bed every morning to try again. Today was their fourth attempt, as there had been an incident every day so far.

In Bruce's mind their second attempt was a big improvement as they had made it all the way until halfway through third period. It was Care of Magical Creatures, which should have been an obvious warning sign. Professor Pryde had decided to begin the class by showing off her pet kneazles all seven of them, another warning sign.

"Man this lady screams crazy cat lady, her name's Kitty for goodness sake." Tony whispered in his ear.

"She definitely seems a little young for this position. She probably just graduated recently." He muttered back as the professor signalled for attention.

"Good afternoon class. These lovely creatures are called Kneazles. Although they can make great pets they tend to be slightly aggressive to those they don't trust, but as long as you earn their trust you should be okay." She cautioned.

"Slightly aggressive? Really? Look at them." Tony jeered. The felines did look like would rather not be anywhere near this grubby handed batch of hormones, and being forcibly pushed towards them by their master didn't help. They stood there hissing as poor students apprehensively stepped forward. Tony had tried wooing a large silver one with his charm to no avail. Apparently kneazles aren't as open to the Stark allure as fangirls.

"Come here little kitty." Tony cooed, "I know your master's a little cray cray, and you have probably spent your life in a room full of assorted tea cosies and decorative china plates. But have no fear I'm nothing like her, heck I'm like practically cray proof. I'm the great Tony Stark, so why don't you just chill and we can figure something out. Don't you want a piece of the great Tony stark?" As he bent over to pet the creature, it lunged at his leg and clung on like a disobedient child, a rabid disobedient child.

"Wahh Bruce help me!" Tony wailed frantically, "It's eating me or something."

Bruce couldn't help but laugh as his oh so cool friend was helplessly assaulted by the creature. Luckily for him Bruce had a knack for felines, even extra cranky ones, and gently stroked the beast until it relaxed and retracted its claws from Tony's leg. In one of his old safe houses there had been a half breed that had comforted the lonely child.

Once the kneazels had gone from incredibly to moderately uncomfortable and the students had gone from slightly cautious to slightly bruised, Professor Pryde transitioned to her next "lesson".

"Listen up class, we wizards are not alone on this island. There are several other magical beasts and beings living here. One of the most significant creatures to know about are the adlets who live in the marshes on the southern portion of the island. Although they are classified as beasts, adlets are highly intelligent creatures and should be treated with respect. Now since we share this island with them let's practice our courtesy skills by engaging in some fun ice breakers with them."

She clapped her hands and a small group of the half dog half humans walked out of the nearby forest. Bruce could see Tony give the girl next to him a teasing nudge to which she responded with an angry shove.

Pryde signalled for everyone to bow in greeting, however as the class did so the kneazles spotted the adlets and lunged at them. Immense chaos ensued sending Bruce over the edge and thus ruining that day. One would think a care of magical creatures professor would know better than to have kneazles and adlets anywhere near each other. Bruce figured this mistake was due to her relatively young age and inexperience but Tony was convinced it was because she was a crazy cat lady.

On the third day they had made it all the way to last period. However, the class was primal magic, native to the North American Aboriginal peoples. This type of magic was difficult for most wizards to understand as it stemmed from the spirit world. As such it was traditionally taught at the National Academy by the lesser loon spirit Kwimu in the soul room at the base of the Astral Tower. However, the tower was quarantined for Fury's stay and so it had been relocated to classroom 407 for the moment.

As soon as Bruce had entered the class the other guy had an immediate reaction to the presence of the spirit. Kwimu also seemed visible disturbed at the sight of Bruce and was sending waves of distressed energy throughout the area. Without a stronger spiritual energy such as that of the guardian spirits present, the force of the other guy was too powerful. Feeling the rage take over, Bruce rushed to the nearest door and disappeared. This didn't bode well for him if the spirits created such a reaction.

Now it was attempt four and so far everything was going swimmingly. They were in potions class, their last of the day. Bruce was feeling pleasantly comfortable as he watched the contents of his cauldron bubble. He found that he quite liked potions class despite its complicated and precise nature. Being surrounded by destruction all his life, the act of creating something was a nice change.

Professor McCoy was a large soft spoken man who carefully laid out the instructions as he gently plucked ingredients from the clay pots lining the walls. Compared to most of his other professors McCoy was neither wary nor antagonistic of him and created a peaceful atmosphere for Bruce to work in. This was especially appreciated today as the low rumbling of a great thunderstorm could be heard echoing through the stone walls. The other guy was extra agitated during storms.

They were only a quarter an hour away from the end of the day when a raven burst through the door. The large raggedy bird was missing an eye, just like its master, a feature that made it indistinguishable to all in the room. It landed powerfully on McCoy's desk and ripped off a note strapped to its leg. The note floated to the front of the room and folded into the shape of a mouth.

"Banner. Tower. Now." The note barked in Fury's familiar voice. Bruce knew exactly what this meant, he had been waiting for this meeting all week. If only it had held off till the hour was up so he could finish his first day of school. Bruce slowly got up and packed his things, he knew better than to argue with Fury.

Apparently Tony did not and before Bruce could stop him, he was busy yelling back at the note.

"I believe you are interrupting ministry mandated education time." Tony snarked "Preventing these poor students from engaging fully in their learning, potentially having cataclysmic repercussions for the future of our society as people graduate without a complete set of knowledge. Do you really want our realm to fall into the grips of the unintelligent? We might as well have muggles running the place around here."

"Oh hell no!" Fury snapped, "Do not even start with me Mr. Stark. Sit your ass down. I don't have time to deal with your shenanigans."

"Seriously this guy is the head of our realm. And I thought we children were the future leaders of this realm. Apparently leaders aren't supposed to care about the issues facing their people. My friend here has never had a full day of school because of your interference and here we are just minutes away from reaching our goal and again you are ruining everything."

"It's okay Tony, let it be." Bruce said before the argument could continue, "We can try again tomorrow."

"But..but..." Tony tried to say something but was speechless. Bruce gave him a soft smile before turning and following the raven out the door. He really wished he could continue living here in this bubble, but he knew deep down that was just wishful thinking. Bruce was being selfish hoping this would work out. People like him didn't get the luxury of having dreams, people like him didn't deserve to be happy.

As he walked down the long corridor to the east wing he thought of how nice it would have been if he had been born someone else, someone who could call these halls home. But alas it wasn't to be and time had run up on his little adventure. Fury would send him off to some cell in the darkest recesses of the Assemblage where he would rot away from human memory.

Climbing the stairs of the Astral Tower to the headmaster's chambers he shed a tear for the life he would never have. What a cruel punishment for Fury to have shown him the life he would never have, an appropriate punishment for one who brought nothing but darkness into the world. At the top a stairs he paused to take one final breath before entering back into his world of despair.

Fury was waiting for him, sitting behind Xavier's desk with the headmaster at his left.

"Grab a seat Mr. Banner we have things to discuss." Fury said in a serious tone as the door swung shut behind Bruce.

Tony was fuming as he bolted to the Astral Tower. They had been so close to completing a full day of school and Bruce was really starting to relax. All of that was ruined now by that bossy prick.

Something about the way Bruce had smiled at him gave him the impression that there was more on the line than fifteen minutes of class.

Fury never brought good tidings and if there was anything Tony didn't want it was Fury messing around more with his roommate. The entrance to east wing was still blocked by Fury's guards but that didn't stop Tony. He rushed at the guards, drawing his wand.

"_Stupefy_" he yelled knocking out one of the guards. His next shot missed the second guard and instead shattered a light on the wall behind him filling the corridor with shadow. The other guard fired a restraining spell at him but him dived across the floor just barely out of reach. Picking himself up he quickly used _Aguamenti _to send a jet of water flying in the guards face. Flustered the guard attempted to pursue him but Tony used _Glacius_ to freeze the now wet floor, sending the guard crashing to the ground. Seeing his chance, Tony booked it down the corridor towards the stairs leading up to the Astral Tower.

"_Immobilis_" a voice called out from the shadows. A sharp stinging pain erupted in Tony's back and he found himself frozen in place.

"Mr. Stark, breaking the rules again I see. Skipping class was one thing but assaulting officers of the law is a serious matter. I'm going to have to deduct 200 points from Owl House." Coulson walked into Tony's field of vision, a smug smile across his face.

"There is no freaking house points!" Tony hissed, "Don't you have something better to do than roam the halls pretending to be some kind secret defender? Was your childhood really so deprived that you have to resort to such drastic actions?"

"You appear to be the one doing the drastic actions. I understand the stress of your family's reputation may at times seem overwhelming but this in no way seems likes a productive way to make a name for yourself."

"Shut up what do you know?"

"I would be more respectful if I were you. Your future lies in my hands. The Assemblage does not take bad behaviour lightly as violent actions like yours are the first step towards dark magic. The draw to a path of darkness may be powerful but I don't think I need to remind you what the realm does to those who partake in it."

"Just let me go! I have somewhere I need to be."

"The only place you'll be Mr. Stark, if you don't change your ways, is frozen solid in a block of ice deep within the dark corridors of Akpatok. Do you want that future for yourself Mr. Stark? Being suspended in a perpetual state of drowning and yet unable to die."

"No never! Your words of wisdom have changed my ways." Tony bluffed, "Let me go for I am a reformed man and will do no ill ever again."

"You can't honestly expect me to believe that."

"Then show me the light. Tell me what I must do to be a better person."

"Hmmm if you truly want to walk the path of redemption you can start by cleaning the eastern lavatories."

"Yes yes right away sir." Tony said as cheekily as possible, "Now let me go and I'll be off."

"Very well off you go." Coulson waved his wand sending Tony flying down the east wing corridor, through the lavatory door and crashing into the sink. He could hear the door lock behind him as Coulson cooed from the other side.

"Have fun Stark. I hope you learn a thing or two about responsibility as you scrub some toilets. And these babies really need it. I suggest using steel wool on some of the more unruly messes."

"Damn that prick." Tony cursed under his breath as he pulled himself out of the sink. The raging storm could be heard clearly through the thin windows. He looked around at the decrepit bathroom. It was deplorable. He was glad he only used the newly furnished bathroom on the third floor in the history department. There was no way in hell he was going to try and clean this shit.

It was then that he realized what he had seen in Bruce's expression earlier. It was goodbye. Bruce wasn't planning on coming back. For him a meeting with Fury meant their party was over. And he knew this was coming the whole time, he expected it. The entire week as they were having fun Bruce was just counting the seconds until he was taken away.

This newfound realization sent Tony's emotions into hyperdrive. Fuck it! Obviously Bruce didn't know the Starks very well, didn't know Tony very well if he thought he could just up and leave with no fuss.

His brain was now firing ideas a mile a minute. He had to reach that tower before it was too late. If the internal route was guarded by Mr. Stick in the Mud he would have to try the external route. Propping the window open, with some effort as it was quite ancient, he crawled outside and into the furious storm.

The window led to the rocky base of the eastern cliff, that housed Muwin's cave. The tower lay on top of the cliff, a literal wall of sharp rocks between him and his goal. Not thinking twice Tony cast a sticky charm to his hands and flung himself against the cliff face. Rivers of precipitation were flowing down the rock making it a slippery mess and a strong burst of wind crashed into him almost sending him flying into the nearby lake. Tony carefully regained his grip and continued the climb. Luckily the shattered nature of the rock created some nice footholds for him and he found he was getting into a rhythm.

Halfway up he had reached the bedroom window of someone from Bear House. He paused to catch his breath as the cliff was smoothing out by now making it much more difficult to continue. He tried to peer inside but the amount of water running across the glass made it near impossible. A flash of lightning erupted behind him and for a brief second he could make out the contents of the room. It looked like a disaster zone as furniture was strewn about everywhere and the walls were covered with tattered scraps of paper. In the corner he thought he saw a girl huddled up, glaring at him through bloodshot eyes. Before he could make anything else out darkness returned to the room.

A earth shattering roar of thunder sent him jumping and he almost lost his grip. Feeling he had overstayed his welcome he slowly continued up the cliff, fighting against the forceful winds.

When he finally dragged himself over the top of the cliff he was exhausted. However, he couldn't stop now, the Astral Tower was in sight, its tall twisting form reached into the stormy night. He ran over to it being careful to avoid the guards at the door. On the far side he found a window and threw a rock at it to create an opening. He jumped inside, not caring as shards of glass cut his arms, and he crashed into the surprisingly soft floor of the room.

Gauging his bearings he soon realized that the floor was in fact made of sand hence why his landing had been so soft. There was a large stump in the centre of the room surrounded by a ring of rocks. Tony figured this must be the soul room, where primal magic was taught, as it seemed rather spiritual feeling.

The sound of feet lightly treading across the sand caught his attention and he dove behind the nearest rock. Whoever it was must have been alerted by the shattering window as the feet tread ever closer to his hiding place.

"You really suck at being sneaky, you know that." Nancy's familiar voice jeered, "Now come on and get up, we have to hurry before the guards come to check out the new entrance you made oh so unsubtly."

"Why are you everywhere?" Tony panted, still exhausted from the climb.

"You look terrible, what did you do scale the cliff?"

Tony gave a weak smile.

"Really? Are you sure you're a genius? There was a path up the far side."

"You're shitting me."

"Nope. I guess I should commend you on your devotion though. Bruce is a pretty lucky guy to have met you. You're probably the only person in the world who would scale a cliff in a thunderstorm for him."

"Why are you here then if not to mock me?"

"Checking on Fury before he leaves tomorrow."

"I thought he was staying till next week."

"Something happened yesterday..."

The calls of Fury's men ended their conversation and they snuck up the stairs to the headmaster's chambers. The door was a thick oak and they could only make out muffled voices coming from the other side.

"Damn it we can't hear anything."

"Hold on a sec." Nancy whispered as she pulled out two slugs from her pocket , handing one to Tony. "Use one of these." She brought the slug to her ear and it slipped inside.

"Uh ew don't you have something less sluggish on your person."

"Do you want to find out what they are saying or not?"

"Fine..." he relented and placed the slug in his ear cringing as it squirmed into place. However, the enchanted creature definitely was working as the conversation was ringing out clear as day.

"So that's how you've been dealing with your problem this week." Fury spoke in his usually commanding voice. "That would explain how my men never saw you."

"It's truly is amazing what the spirits can accomplish." spoke Xavier's softer, calmer voice,

"Totoba seems to have things under control. I need to remember never to question the will of the spirits."

"Now you are probably wondering where we go from here?"

"Not really, I understand my place." Bruce mumbled in his meek voice. Tony had to restrain himself from barging in and kidnapping him. "I was more surprised that you brought me to the National Academy in the first place. To have me near all these vulnerable students given my...the other guy's destructive nature and all, just seemed a little strange."

"Clearly you do not understand the true potential of your curse."

"While there are those who fear you and want to lock your power away there are others who would seek to wield it for their own nefarious objectives."

"Even so wouldn't it be safest for everyone if I was securely locked away in the control of the Assemblage."

"Not anymore, the Assemblage has been compromised. With the assassination of my successor we no longer have order and there are many who wish to use your power to take control in these uncertain times."

"But then why here, where there are so many people at risk? Surely one of my former safe houses would be satisfactory."

"Until we find out who murdered Stoner and put an end to this insurrection there are few places I can trust. Beyond Headmaster Xavier I have no one else who I can turn to."

"And I think you will find that my academy will be more than satisfactory. With the power of the spirits there is no way one can enter this island without first having a bond with one of them. That is why the bonding ceremony is so important, no one can pass the barrier without the guardian spirits' permission. When you think about it, isn't this academy a far better place than some cell or safe house? Here you finally have the opportunity to learn and make friends, have a normal childhood. And the island is large enough for your little friend to let off some steam thanks to Totoba's spell."

"He isn't my friend. He's a killing machine. There is no way I can stay here, sooner or later someone will get hurt."

"Well that's too bad for you because not only does the barrier prevent anyone from entering the island it also prevents anyone from leaving. We can't have punks like your roommate sneaking off to La Toque to get a drink. And we can't have you slipping off and ending up in the wrong hands. Don't forget why you're here. I own you. And we're not going to have any accidents this year because you're going to keep your shit together, or else."

"To help insure this I will be acting as your mentor in the meantime. Each week you will come to my office and we will practice techniques to help you control the power inside you."

"How could you possibly expect to control it."

"Xavier is the most powerful wizard in the realm, there are things he can do that are unfathomable to his contemporaries. So study up because if I hear of any incidents I won't think twice about sending you to Akpatok. Once there you're never coming back and I think we'd both rather make something useful out of you."

"Understood..."

"Hmm it appears we have eavesdroppers. Stark you couldn't have waited till this evening to see Bruce?" The door swung open revealing the speakers on the other side. Bruce looked defeated, just like on his first night here.

"Well you couldn't wait a mere fifteen minutes so we could finish our class. And you're our leader. How can you expect me to wait if you're not going to? How did you even know by the way?"

"You forget I have an all-seeing eye Mr. Stark."

Tony suddenly became aware that Nancy was nowhere to be seen. "Huh, where did that bloody demon lady run off to?"

"Now if I recall this meeting was supposed to be private. I thought my men were guarding the place. Don't tell me a punk like you was able to get past them... Ughh I'm going to have to get better bodyguards. You know I almost fucking died the other day what is the world coming to when I have to bodyguard myself."

"What are we going to do about that?" Xavier inquired of the chairman, "If there is a conspirator on campus and they get a hold of Banner our plan could be compromised."

"Don't worry about that, I will deal with it. I'm speaking with the Council tomorrow. In the meantime just keep an eye on Bruce, don't let anyone get too close to him. Actually Stark since you're such a devoted roommate why don't you do this for me."

"I don't know if that is the best idea...: Bruce started but Tony interrupted.

"Of course I'll do it but I don't need you to tell me what to do. Now if you don't mind I came here because you kidnapped my roommate and I have embarked on an epic quest through harrowing trials to rescue him." He grabbed Bruce's arm and headed out the door. "Come on Bruce, screw these old men."

"Very well you are dismissed. But remember your place Banner. That goes double for you Stark, if I catch you ambushing my guards again I won't think twice about punishing you personally."

"Yeah yeah whatever, old man."

"Good night boys, safe travels. " Xavier called softly after them.

They headed down the tower in silence. Bruce was deep in thought, his brow furrowed. The guards were nowhere to be seen as they passed through the eastern corridor, presumably they had gone the medical ward. The hall was a mess however, in the aftermath of the fight, the walls covered in scorch marks and the floor was still half frozen.

"Don't tell me this was you." Bruce muttered.

"The one and only." Tony beamed.

Bruce stopped and faced him. "Look Tony, you can't keep doing stuff like this. You heard them, I'm dangerous. It would be better if you just left me alone."

"Shut up Bruce. No one tells me what to do and that includes you. I do all this because I want to. You're my friend and I would gladly fight guards and scale cliffs for you. I made a promise that we would finish your first day of school and I plan to keep it."

Bruce gave a sheepish smile. "You didn't actually scale a cliff did you?"

"Bruce look at me. How else do you think I got this soaked?"

"Wait a second are you bleeding? Damn it Tony, some of these look pretty deep. We need to get you to the medical ward."

"Nuh uh! What did I say about people telling me what to do?"

"Shut up and let me fix this." Bruce grabbed Tony's arm and drew his wand, "This is gonna hurt."

The searing pain of his flesh growing back brought tears to his eyes. One by one Bruce meticulously healed each cut with the attention and care of a doctor.

"There. All better. Now promise me you won't do stupid stuff like that again, even for me."

"No guarantees." Bruce lowered his glasses and stared seriously at him. "Alright fine but you have to promise you won't leave me. I know you weren't planning on sticking around much longer. But Fury gave me an order and nothing is going to stop me from me from achieving it."

"I thought no one tells you what to do." Bruce said cheekily.

"Sometimes it is necessary to shut up and let someone else take charge."

"Wow someone is getting all sappy on me. Could Tony Stark be becoming a deep person?"

"Shhh don't spread it around. So what do you say? Do we have a deal."

"I guess we do roomie. Now let's head to our room and get you some warm clothes before you get sick."

"Agreed." Bruce had finally called him roomie, a fact that had put a ridiculous smile on Tony's face.

When they had reached the common room Tony apprehensively opened the door. He knew what awaited him on the other side.

"200 fucking points!" Sif yelled as she flung him against the wall. "What were you thinking you little shit head? Oh I know, nothing! You must have your head up your ass if you think assaulting Fury's personal guard is a good idea. I have the right mind to castrate you here and now. It's going to be near impossible to win the house cup this year now."

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Bruce piped in.

"And what would you say, you scrawny freak?"

"Well first of all you have your facts wrong."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No not entirely, Tony did indeed assault Fury's guards and was deducted 200 points. However, he did this because he was instructed by Fury to bring me to Xavier's office. The guards refused to listen to him so he had to subdue them as the matter was of upmost urgency. When that didn't work he scaled the cliff face to bring me there on time. Once there, Xavier was so pleased he absolved the previously deductions and due to Tony's determination and resourcefulness in fact gave Owl House fifty more points."

"And what could be so urgent about a whelp like you that Fury would support such measures to speak with you?"

"Oh I think you know perfectly well why." Bruce's face became hidden in shadow as he spoke as menacingly as possible. "You said it yourself, I am a scrawny freak. But that's not all I am is it? Those nightmares you have, the screams you hear in the dead of the night. You can see the darkness in me can't you girl? See it reaching out to consume you."

"Ugh get away from me you freak!" Sif seemed visibly disturbed, "You can go Stark just keep him away from me, from everyone. There is something not right about him." She stormed off to her room musing to herself. "What a creep... But an extra fifty points would put us in the lead...hmmm.."

"Wow!" Tony exclaimed, "What was that, you sketchy little devil."

"Being a creep comes in handy sometimes."

"That was a lie right? The whole fifty points thing."

"Of course it was, there are no house points at this academy."

"I thought so." Tony said giving Bruce a big hug. "Man you are bloody brilliant."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

A flicker of green light flashed before his eyes as the world reestablished itself. Fury stepped out of the fireplace into the central hall of the Assemblage. The fireplace was one of three great hearths at the base of the Vérendrye tree, the centrepiece of the Assemblage. Its Ivory bark climbed into the lofty reaches of the hall, filling the room with a soft glow. All along its branches nestled in between golden leaves roosted hundreds of owls, waiting for their services to be acquired. Fury often wondered what went through their thoughts as they watched the bureaucrats scurry from meeting to meeting far beneath them.

"Welcome back Chairman," a neatly dressed woman stood to his side in formal address, "You're back early. I trust your voyage was enlightening."

"As you were Director Walters," The woman relaxed slightly, "Enlightening it was... There was an unexpected development. We will have to jump ahead with the Avengers Initiative. I want you to move forward with Protocol 34."

"Right away sir, I will put the Council under lockdown immediately. They won't do anything outside of my men's watchful eyes." She then switched to a more hushed anxious tone. "But sir are you really seriously considering one of the Councilmen in Stoner's assassination?"

"Of course I am. The culprit has an intimate level of knowledge of the actions of myself and my predecessor, a level of knowledge only the Council is privy to. And besides to do what they did to Stoner requires an almost unheard of power and the Council contains four of this realm's most powerful wizards."

"I guess that makes sense," she mumbled "Especially in light of the latest incident."

"And what praytell may that be?" Fury stopped in his track and gave her his signature glare.

"Well sir... there was a break in."

"Where...?"

"The Adamantine Halls sir, the night you left...but we have our top operatives on it."

"Hmmmm...The Adamantine Halls you say. We must have had quite the burglar, those halls contain the most secure vaults in the Assemblage. Did they manage to take anything?"

"We're not sure sir. Once they had broken in, it appears they went straight to the sixth level, to Room 4855. According to our files this room contains Project HULK, but upon investigation all that was in the room was a small wooden chair, a basin and what appears to be a makeshift bed."

"So my predictions were right, eh? Don't worry Director nothing was stolen. I moved Project HULK to a more secure location earlier that day."

"It seems to make sense that one of the Councilmen is involved as the only way to access the Adamantine Halls is with clearance from a member of the Council."

"Exactly! Well I have a meeting with our would be conspirators right now so if we're lucky maybe one of them will crack under the pressure and confess."

"Good luck sir." She paused for a moment to process the newfound information before speaking up again. "Before you go sir, what exactly is Project HULK? and why would someone in the Council want it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." he said with a smile as he turned to leave.

"Chairman wait!" She cried after him . "It looked like a person was living there...What's going on?" Fury just laughed and continued his long ascent up the spiraling gilded staircase to the Council chambers at the apex of the Assemblage.

Outside the door he paused to take a deep breath before entering into the warzone of glares. The Council room was small filled predominantly by a large inordinately carved oak table. It glistened with light from large skylights giving the room a misleadingly peaceful air.

Any peace was immediately interrupted by the blonde woman to his left. "Chairman, Where have you been!" She shrilled, "Do you have any idea what state we are in right now? Stoner was just assassinated. We could be next! You can't just slink off whenever you want."

"At ease Councilman Carpenter." He said flatly.

"At ease? How can I be at ease when our lives are threatened every day while some dark lord is afoot?"

"Seigneir des Ténèbres?" The man to her left spoke in a thick joual accent. He was the youngest and most handsome of the four Councilmen. "I t'ink you are getting trop excité ma' cherie. T'ere 'as been no signes de la darke magique"

"How else do you explain the state Chairman Stoner was found in; sitting in his office as if it was a normal day, still breathing like all was well but no life was to be found in his eyes and when shook no spirit did rise. Rather he shattered into a cloud of ash. They stole his soul, gentlemen, and we will be next!"

"You spineless little midgardians, always running away at the first sign of trouble like a chicken without it's head." A large grizzled man, who like Fury had his vision impaired by an eyepatch, however his was on his right side rather than left and was much more innate being golen and gilded with designs signifying his noble background. "Stoner was a weak old excuse for a man. If nordic blood had run in his veins he would not have been so easily subdued."

"You norsemen 'ave your 'eads dans le cul. Si tu etais la', you would be pareil, nut'ing but a pile de cendres. Une soul est une soul, Nordique ou non."

"And I suppose you would have fared much better frog?" The older man grumbled, while the younger returned a cheeky smile.

"How can you two waste your time showboating when we are in a crisis?" Councilman Carpenter shrieked, her hair frazzled by worry.

"What's with this fuss anyways?" The eldest grumbled, "Stoner nodded off over a month ago and nothing of it. The world still turns. Clearly whatever happened as mysterious as it may be is not as nefarious as some of you are making it seem. The coot must have charmed himself out of existence. He's always been a bungler when it came to magic."

"You mean most t'ings." The other giggled.

"This is no laughing matter, Councilman Lebeau. So I suggest you start taking things seriously as you soon may find yourself in the face of death." Fury said flatly as he at last waded into the conversation. "And as for you Councilman Borson, unless you can tell me how Chairman Stoner ended up as powder, I don't think you truly understand the severity of this situation. Not only are we no closer to understanding how the fuck the most important person in the realm ended up sans soul, but just this past week someone managed to skip their way right through the Adamantine Halls as if it was some quaint city park in Ville Marie. Except that this couldn't have been some Wicken Guides, because unless I am wrong, we are the only ones with access to that section and I for one am not strutting around with pigtails and batwing biscuits. Clearly we have a serious situation on our hands. Would anyone like to speak on this?"

The room became deathly quiet and the three bickering Councilmen gave shifty uneasy glances amongst themselves.

In the western corner of the room sat a large stoic looking man. As always he had yet to say anything, but his eyes said more than enough. To his left was his aide, a woman consumed by her voluminous red hair. He nudged her slightly and she broke the silence with her unpleasant voice.

"Councilman Boltagon feels it is you Chairman Fury who needs to provide answers. What have you been doing with Project HULK?"

As the mention of Project HULK the tension in the room jumped dramatically and all eyes turned to Fury.

"So it's true!" Carpenter exclaimed, "IT has disappeared. We're all doomed now. How are we supposed to survive against that! I always knew it was trouble. But it was supposed to be safely locked away in the freaking Adamantine Halls. If they aren't safe, nothing is."

"According to the records our honorable Chairman conveniently entered Room 4855, hours before the break in." Boltagon's aide continued, "So the question remains what exactly have you done with IT Chairman Fury?"

"Câlisse! Fury you putain sournoise, what secrets are you 'iding?"

"If you think you can try and blackmail us with this, you've got another thing coming. We Norsemen do not take kindly to threats. I knew it was a mistake to appoint you. You Midgardians always hide behind your weapons afraid to stand like a man."

"Are you guys finished?" Fury began, "Can I start or do you need more time to spout wild conjecturing and baseless accusations."

"Baseless! You let that monster free!"

"T'as guelle woman. Let le gars speak."

"We good? Well then, I suppose its time to let yall in what I have been up to. As Councilman Boltagon so astutely pointed out, I did enter Room 4855 before I left for the National Academy, where I have been for the past week, because in light of Stoner's death, the security of the Assemblage has been compromised and so I thought it pertinent to move Project HULK to a more secure location."

"Wait you mean you took the most dangerous weapon in the realm to the National Academy? Carpenter seemed livid, "You took IT to a school full of children! What would possibly compel you to bring it to a place with so many vulnerable people?"

"My son is there right now along with many good Nordic youth. They are hardly vulnerable."

"You can't 'onestly t'ink que son fils would be able to stand dix secondes contre le monstre."

"This is Project HULK we are talking about. There was a reason its locked away in the Adamantine Halls. Or at least was...Oh GOD we're screwed."

Against Carpenter's persistent worry even Borson seemed to grow uneasy.

" Fury, If you dare think of using that beast to threaten my son or blackmail me nothing in the six realms will protect you from my wrath."

"There is nothing nefarious behind my actions. We needed some place more secure, at least until we have this Stoner situation settled."

"Councilman Boltagon wonders why, If security was what you were looking for, you didn't take the beast to Akpatok? Surely it would be out of harms way there."

"Why didn't we do that in the first place? After what happened in Cornwall why would we put our people, ourselves at risk?"

"Because he's not a beast is he? He's a child, no older than your loghead of a son Councilman Borson."

"So what? You've gone mou Fury? Become un saint des enfants? Tu es vraiment fou."

"For once I agree with the Frog. How can you even compare that thing with my son? My son does not turn into a beast that destroys all in its path."

"Listen, we do not live in the same world we used to anymore. After what happened in Britain, we are at risk of powerful dark magic. Those necromancers in Calderon are reaching into the darkest voids, summoning unspeakable horrors and that bastard Hill over in the Shield is constantly on our heels. What do we do if one of them turns their eyes on us? What do we do if a dark lord appears in our realm? Project Hulk is an asset because he is not just some mindless beast. He is a child, and as he learns and grows we can unlock that power inside him for our own use. I left him under Xavier's tutelage to mould that child into a force for good. Being under the influence of our realm's most powerful wizard has to be beneficial to the child. So far that boy has learnt nothing but pain and darkness being constantly locked away from the rest of the world. No wonder nothing good has come out of him, when nothing good has gone in. Let him for once in his life be a normal child, experience happiness and who knows what untapped potential will arise."

"What about when something goes wrong? How will you guarantee the safety of our children?"

"Will having the boy under the supervision of Xavier definitely doesn't hurt, however to ease your worries an agreement has been made with the Guardian Spirits, who are using their power to suppress the demons within."

"Councilman Boltagon is concerned that If all was going so well why was there a need for you to end your trip early? Why did you call this meeting?"

"Nothing gets past your beady little eyes do they Boltagon?" Fury sighed, "I called this meeting because I believe that Stoners murderer is hiding at the National Academy."

"Pourquoi?"

"Because, during my stay there was an attempt on my life."

"I KNEW IT!" Councilman Carpenter almost screamed, "They are after us! Oh my god am I next? Why did I even run for this position in the first place?"

"Why indeed?" Lebeau sneered.

"I'm not afraid. Let them come. I dare them to try and face me."

"Councilman Boltagon indeed finds this as an interesting development, Chairman Fury but if what you say is true why did you leave Project HULK within reach of our enemy?"

"As bait." Everyone seemed slightly perplexed by this so he continued. "After their failed attempt at my life our would be killer will most likely expect us to retreat away and thus disappear back into the shadows. But Councilmen, as you all know we are scheduled to attend the opening quodpot game at the academy in a few weeks. Surely if Stoner's killer is at the academy they will not be able to resist the temptation of the entire Council and Project HULK in the same place."

"Tzo you want to make it plus facile de killing of us?"

"How are we supposed to catch this guy if he's hiding in the shadows? By using bait to lure him out we can finally catch them and end this threat."

"I'm not sure how comfortable I am using myself for bait. This guy is trying to kill us. I'd rather he didn't succeed."

"Shut up woman. I for one like this plan. Finally some action. Lets show him that we are someone to be trifled with."

"You just want to show off tes muscles in front of son fils."

"Councilman Boltagon approves of this plan. Let us end this crisis."

"What about you Councilman Lebeau will you support this plan?

"Whatever, Ça me rend fou."

"Councilman Carpenter?"

"I can't take this. Why is this happening to us?"

"I don't know, but lets end it together."

"Fine, but I want our top operatives with me."

"Chicken." Borson scoffed.

"Enough! No more infighting. It is time we put our energy to catching this guy. This meeting is adjourned, let us go and prepare our trap." With that the Council stood and left to their quarters. Fury remained behind, a sly grin on his face.

"Alright Councilmen, let the games begin."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It had been a week since her public display of embarrassment and Jeanne-Marie was still recovering. True to their words Marie and Jeanne had let her be. For the first time in a long while Jeanne-Marie was alone and she didn't know what to do with herself. Well it was not like she ever knew what to do with herself but normally she could distract herself amidst their bickering.

Part of her wanted to go find them and apologize but they had embarrassed her in front of the whole school. On the first day for goodness sake. How would she ever recover from this?

Even now as she sat by the flame in the Great Hall she could see the way people looked at her as if she was the biggest weirdo in the room. There was no way Thor would associate with someone like her. No her friends' crime was unforgivable... at least for now.

Jeanne-Marie had spent the majority of the week locked in her room in a mad fit. Having given up all hope of being with her nordic hunk she wrought armageddon on everything in her room which reminded her of him and their awkward introduction. This included one hundred and thirty two pieces of fanart, two hundred thousand words worth of fanfiction, forty nine drabbles, and a mural of them flying off into a scarlet sunset on a pegasus that she had painted onto the ceiling on the first night. She got the inspiration for this masterpiece after seeing her muse swagger into the bonding ceremony, hair whipping in the evening air. In her mind those toned arms had swept her with a hearty laugh and brilliant smile, and BAM pegasus riding into the sunset.

Presently all remained of that pegasus was a large scorch mark, much like the rest of her room. She had been in the midst of her fit of depression, while the sky raged outside her window, when a flash of lightning shattered the darkness of her room. There, clinging to the glass like a drowned rat fighting against the storm, illuminated like some kind of deity, was Tony Stark.

Her heart stopped as she gaped at the boy struggling passionately to ascend the cliff outside her room. For a brief second his gaze caught hers and she could see the flame that drove him up the cliff. There was a sense of deep desperation in him that made her sadness of the past week seem like a childish tantrum. His expression sparked intense feels inside her, erasing any memory of that strapping blonde.

And then it was gone.

The room was plunged back into the shadows, leaving Jeanne-Marie in a state of utmost confusion. When lightning struck again, seconds later, the window was empty as if the boy had never been there.

After that night she had attempted to get her life sorted out. She cleaned her room and started going to class. The following couple of days had been rather difficult as she would constantly catch people's eyes and feel a wave of insecurity, but then she would remember Tonys frame shining in the stormy night be ashamed of her childness and weakness.

"Je vois que tu dessine encore les jeunes garçons." Jeanne's sharp voice interrupted her scribblings.

"Oooh look, it's a new slice of man meat." Marie sleazed her way into the conversation, "This Stark boy is okay but he's a little twink in comparison to that sex god Thor."

"Je pense que I says dat I don't want you deux bot'ering moi maintenant."

"Blame-moi pas. C'était sa idée." Jeanne defended, jeering at Marie.

"What are you looking at me for, because of me we finally got the boy's attention. Just you wait, give me an hour with that chunk of man meat and I'll have him begging for you."

"I'm so over ta merde. I told vous, I never want te revoir!" Jeanne-Marie yelled at them.

"Pardon-moi, ma soeur." Her brother said as he stepped forward. "I guess I will just leave you toute seule."

"Oh excuse-moi Jean-Paul. I didn't see you t'ere."

"Sens-tu bien? You 'aven't been in classe much cette semaine." Jean-Paul warmly pulled her into a hug.

"J'sais pas, l'ecole is more difficile than I t'ought." She mumbled into his shoulder. "But j'essaie"

"Well ma chère soeur, n'oublie dat you are not alone."

Their sibling bonding was broken by the rowdy voices of Thor and his gang heading towards them.

"Oh lookie here boys, the wonder twins are having a reunion."

"I think it's cute."

"Volstagg you think everything is cute."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"What I have a problem with is this little toad who thinks he stands a chance against us in the opening match next week."

"I wouldn't get too cocky Thor, Fox House has been known to put up a good fight."

"Not this year. We must beat the House of Fox. I will do whatever is in my power to ensure our victory." Thor said in a surprisingly desperate tone.

"Woah buddy, I'm excited as anyone to kick some fox ass, but lighten up a bit. It's just a game." Fandrall stepped closer to her. "We are in the presence of this fine lady, why don't we use this time to get to know her better? You know, have a little fun"

Before she had time to react his hand was on her ass.

"Lâche ma soeur!" Her brother yelled, shoving Fandrall aside.

"Cool it Frenchie! I'm just returning the favour." He gave her a wink, "Aint that right princess."

Jeanne-Marie was consumed by a cold rage. After the past week she was not prepared for shit like this. SLLLLAPPP! she looked up to see Jeanne standing triumphantly over her assailant a red handprint fresh on his face. Marie stepped forwards and elbowed him in the groin.

"Any more of you shitheads wanna piece of this!" Marie spat at them.

"You freak! What the fuck was that for?"

"Well you kind of crossed a line." Hogan said flatly.

"Kind of? He violated ma soeur, tabarnak!"

"What? I...but...she...damn..."

"Let's just leave." Thor said broodingly.

"Yeah allez, get your culs away from 'ere!" He brother cursed as the gang slunk back to Hottah's Mire. He then turned to face her with a serious expression, "Câlisse Jeanne-Marie, is that why you 'aven't been coming to classe? À cause de those crosseurs."

"N'inquietes pas, Jean-Paul. Je juste..Je juste 'ave need to figure out des choses. I'm going d'aller sommeiller. Je te verrai plus tard, okay?"

"D'accord..Let me know si les gars de merde return."

Jeanne-Marie gave her brother that look they had developed over the years and slowly walked towards the security of her room.

"So you done being crazy?" Marie cooed in her ear. "You're gonna let us hang out again? After today I think it is clear that you're shit without us"

Mmmmhmmm...

"Pour une fois, elle a raison. Tu n'es pas forte comme nous. Tu es faible. Tu as besoin de nous." Jeanne joined in.

"I dunno... on vas voir..." Jeanne-Marie lamented. The spirits were being unfair sending her all these mixed messages. Figuring shit out was not going easy. "Oh well.." She sighed..

By then it was getting dark and the Great Hall was largely empty. Soon the prefects would be out to herd the remaining students back to their residences for curfew. She paused at the exit to relax with a deep breath before retreating back into the damp caverns of the Bear House residence.

It was then that she noticed Tony Stark and his shadow scurrying out of the kitchen with armfuls of cake. "Fuck dis." Without thinking twice she cast a makeshift invisibility spell and followed after them.

* * *

It had finally happened, after what had had seemed like an eon, Bruce had finally completed a full day of school. Tony swore that this had involved the scaling of Mount Everest, the slaying of an Antipodean Opaleye, and other epic quests. Bruce was so happy he thought Mount Everest wasn't enough and that a voyage to the moon or through the spirit realm was a more accurate description.

It hadn't been easy though. After meeting with Fury, Bruce had been pretty shook up even if he would never let it show. The days in the aftermath of the meeting were rough and Bruce had spent the majority of the rest of the week out with "medical problems". With Bruce largely out of the picture Tony had used the time to lay out the groundwork for his next big plan.

They spent the weekend hauled up in the lab tinkering away on a whole array of spells. With Bruce's help Tony had accomplished twice as much as he usually would have. Bruce also was a great conversationalist and they spent much time debating such things as the legitimacy of Divination. It was like a big innovative magic party.

By the end of the weekend Bruce had relaxed and they were ready to take Monday head on. Tony had prepared a whole slew of relaxation charms that kept disturbances away and created pleasant aromas. He had even gone so far as to enchant the two of them with an invisible tether so that Bruce couldn't just disappear again. Bruce said that this was all a little excessive and that he preferred to rely on these calming potions he had brewed. Tony could see concern flash across his face when he cast the tethering enchantment but he had insisted anyways.

"This is so you know you know you're not doing this alone, even if sometimes you think you are." He said with a smile, "You might as well just accept it Brucie. You'll never getting rid of me now. Besides I've always wanted to try this."Tony bolted away until the tether caught and they both went crashing into the floor laughing uncontrollably

Luckily the day had passed without a hitch. There were several times when Tony could feel Bruce tense up, spurring Tony to whisper some snarky remark about the professor or to simply put a friendly hand on his shoulder and give a warm smile. As the day neared its end they both got more excited and the jokes became more frequent.

"Five! You ready big guy. Four! No turning back now. Three! Are you sure you're feeling well. Two! Like you're not going to vomit? One! or run away because we... ZERO! DUhdudduhudhdu!" Tony trumpeted,

"Congratulations and what not! You are now officially a kindergartner. I hope you enjoy playing with your foam blocks. They were always my favourite part. Except there was this one kid, Lucas Maloney, who would always stomp on my buildings. It was then that I learned my first stunning spell."

"Tony.."

"And what a beautiful spell it was."

"Tony!"

"Already a genius at such a young age." Tears were welling up in his eyes.

"You done yet Tony?"

"Sorry it was just a traumatic experience for me you know having all my hard work destroyed day after day." He gave a mischievous grin. "But you know if you're going to be an attention whore we can talk about you...sooooo big day for you? How you holding up?"

"Pretty good." Bruce said trying to contain his smile like he was some kid in trouble for sneaking cookies. It was adorable. "I didn't think it was possible. I never thought that this would happen to me."

"Well you did have some pretty amazing help I might add."

"Thanks Tony." Bruce gave his signature sheepish half smile. "I doubt I would have been able to do this without someone as pigheaded and ridiculous as you."

"Pigheaded?" Tony mocked hurt. "You wound me sir and here I had this huge party planned for tonight with booze and cake and strippers. I have the right mind to cancel it."

"Oh okay I guess I'll spend the evening pigging out by myself." Bruce turned and strutted off. "Happy, looks like it's just us tonight."

Tony was astonished, when did Bruce become such a douche. He ran to catch up and gave Bruce a friendly tackle. "You jerk, where did you learn such sass?"

"While I do have a great teacher, Oh Sensei."

"Well my young grasshopper lets hurry on our way. There is much butterbeer and cake to be consumed. I told Happy to go all out."

"You were that confident that today was going to be the day?"

"I had a feeling."

"Um Tony?"

"Yeah Bruce?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Bruce asked gesturing towards the invisible tether.

"Oh Darn... I was hoping to string you along like a puppy all day."

"Really? If anything you're the dog." Bruce yanked the rope sending Tony crashing to the ground. Bruce stood above him, with his stupid smug expression.

"I have a bad feeling I'm going to get used to this view."

Bruce cocked his brow sending his smugness to unbearable levels. Tony quickly brought Bruce down to his level and they sat on the ground locked in a death stare match. Eventually Tony couldn't take Bruce's face anymore and burst into were embarrassingly girly and he struggled to regain composure.

"Damn you're good at this. All right I concede, I'll disenchant the tether. We done here?"

"Hell yeah, I'm starving."

They spent the rest of the evening gorging themselves on a feast for kings. The cake was a feast in itself probably being better suited for a wedding.

"Happy you out did yourself." Tony beamed proudly.

"How are we supposed to eat this? It is almost as tall as me."

"Like this!" Tony dug his hand into the cake and ripped out a massive chunk shoving it into his mouth in the most seductively unseductive way possible.

Bruce laughed and followed suit.

"We're going to have leftovers for a week."

"A week? More like a year. This is ridiculous."

"Well come on it's time for the real party to begin." Tony shot up and grabbed a plateful of cake, passing it to Bruce.

"Tony what more could you possibly have planned?"

"Don't question my art. Now take this cake and let's go. Thanks again Happy you are the best half man servant a guy could ask for."

"Anything for you Master Stark."

They scurried back to their room with half a tonne of cake in tow. Bruce kept asking questions which made Tony even more excited for the next part of his plan. He dumped the cake in the lab and began changing.

"Tony seriously what is going on?"

"We my good sir are going on an adventure."

"Uh..huh..why?"

"So you know how we've hit another snag with the cell phone project?"

"Yeah...the waves that muggles use to transmit cellular energy cannot travel through the magical energy around campus."

"Well while you were being scolded by Uncle Fury.."

"Which was supposed to be private I might add."

"Yeah yeah, whatever the point is that I saw a book in Xavier's office that looked like it could be useful." He had in fact seen a book that night but it was on a different subject matter. _Our Dark Masters and Other Secrets of the Spirit World. _Tony figured that if anything in this Academy held the answers to Bruce it was that. But Bruce didn't need to know that yet.

"So what, we're gonna go break into the headmasters office?"

"Exactly."

"On a Monday?"

"Why not? Xavier has a staff meeting now, so we have like an hour and a half."

"Tony this seems like a bad idea."

"Nonsense. I did stuff like this all the time at my old school. Come on it'll be fun."

"I guess..."

"Awesome. Put these on." Tony threw Bruce a black hoodie and toque.

"What are these?"

"Muggle clothes. They are more convenient for moving around in the dark. Also don't they make us look more stealthy?"

"Sure."

"Also use this." Tony tossed him a scarf. "It's charmed to mask noises you make so you can sneak quietly. Its a muffler that muffles HA I'm a genius!"

"You're so lame." Despite his skepticism Bruce was eagerly wrapping the muffler around his face.

Once they were all decked out they slipped out of Totoba's Perch and down the stairs.

They had a couple of close calls on their way to the eastern wing. Sif had almost caught them on the stairs as she headed back to the dormitory but Bruce had quickly shoved them into a corner and cast a concealment charm. Tony didn't want to think about what she would have done to them if they had been caught.

The Great Hall was empty except for the dim light of the fire which was burning low. Without the bodies of the student body, the room appeared more cavernous and normal as if was opening up into the heavens.

At the entrance to the eastern wing stood Coulson, on guard as if his life depended on it. Tony had expected the pompous ass to be there fulfilling his "duty" and pulled a marble out of his pocket. As stealthily as one can, he rolled the marble down the hall so it stopped near the library. Tony had enchanted the marble, and slowly it turned into a bird. Just as he had planned the bird softly chirped away at the other end of the hall.

When coulson moved closer to inspect the noise the bird shot up and began flapping around his head.

"Argg is this a bat?" Coulson cried, "Shoo! Get away from me."

While he was distracted the two boys snuck their way beyond into the eastern wing.

"A bird?" Bruce harshly whispered into his ear, "Are you an idiot? Why in the world would a bird be in the school at this hour? You should have enchanted a bat."

"Well whatever he thought it was a bat."

"You're just lucky he's a bigger idiot than you are."

Their banter was interrupted by the noise of a chair being scraped back. That was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps on stone, heading in their direction.

"What are you two doing out here at this hour?"

They turned around to face Professor McCoy. He looked like he had been busy as he took of his glasses to wipe the fatigue from his eyes. In the corner of his eye Tony saw Bruce's face light up in an alarming shade of red. Potions was his favourite class so he was probably embarrassed to be seen by his teacher breaking the rules.

"We could ask you the same question." Tony started, "Isn't there a staff meeting now?"

McCoy gave them a quizzical look before continuing. "It went short. Ended five minutes ago. The rest of the staff should be out soon."

"Damnit!" Tony cursed under his breath. There was no way they would get into Xavier's office now. They'd have to try again another day.

"You two weren't planning on causing any trouble now?"

"No sir. We...we went out for a walk." Tony quickly lied, "Bruce was feeling ill so I took him outside to get some air. And then it got dark out so we headed back...took us longer than I thought though."

"Oh.." The professor paused for a second, mulling over his thoughts. Tony almost shit his pants. He really hoped McCoy bought their excuse or else Bruce would never forgive him. "Well if that's the case hurry on to bed boys. It's late and I don't want you two to sleep through my class tomorrow morning."

Tony let out a huge sigh. They were lucky bastards. "Yes sir. Right away."

"Oh and Bruce." His roommate tightened up all over again. "I forgot to give you this earlier." he handed over a small packet of herbs.

"It's starthistle, for your extra credit project." Bruce looked dumbfounded.

"Well goodnight boys." Professor McCoy said as he lumbered down the hall, "I dearly hope I do not see you down here again."

"Well this sucks." Tony grumbled as he began the long walk to their room. He had only gone a few steps when Bruce had pulled him into the bathroom.

"What are you doing?"

Bruce was surprisingly excited, "Tony it's starthistle. Do you know what that is?"

"Yeah your extra credit project."

"I don't have an extra credit project. Professor McCoy is helping us out."

"I don't follow."

"Don't you get it. He said he doesn't want to SEE us down here again."

"I gathered that much." Tony was very confused, "But how does that help us get into Xavier's office especially when this hallway will be crawling with staff in minutes."

"Starthistle is the key ingredient in the the Now You See Me Potion, a class 4 invisibility potion."

"oh...OHHHHhh Why didn't you say so in the first place. Here use my cauldron." Tony pulled out a small pot from a satchel on his side that had the Undetectable Extension Charm on it. "What else do you need?"

"I should have the rest on me." Bruce said as he emptied his pockets of various plants. "Man McCoy is the coolest."

"Yeah we'll have to give him a hug tomorrow. Now hurry up I can hear voices starting to head this way."

"There, all good. Quick chug this." Bruce said handing him a small cup of was bitter but definitely better than PolyJuice Potion.

His stomach bubbled slightly and then FLASH Bruce was gone. He raised his hand but it was still visible.

"I don't think it worked I can still see myself."

"It worked you dummy. You're invisible to everyone but yourself"

"You're just out to get me tonight. You will rue the day you mocked Tony Stark."

"I'm just saying your reputation supercedes yourself, genius."

"Oh Ha Ha, come on let's hurry."

They snuck back into the hallway which had a couple more occupants in it, most likely professors reviewing their notes. The Astral Tower was much more vacant and they easily made their way to headmaster's door.

It was locked of course. Tony took this opportunity to redeem his pride and transfigured the door into water. Before them lay the warm golden walls of Xavier's office and sitting at the headmaster's desk, fiddling with an glowing blue gem, was Tony's red haired nemesis.

"I was wondering when you two would get here." She cocked.

"Ahghg get out of my life! Why are you everywhere?"

"I thought I would take the opportunity to get better acquainted with our honorable headmaster's private collection. What are you doing here?"

"We're doing research for a pet project." Bruce spoke up.

"Oh Brucie there you are. You were harder to detect than Trudgey McFoot over there."

"Why you grrrrrr. Just keep out of our way. Come on Bruce I'm pretty sure it's over here."

"Wait someone else is coming to join our party." Nancy warned.

"Damn it! Xavier must be back already. Quick hide."

"Wait why are we hiding Tony we're invisible."

"Just shhh!"

All eyes turned to the door as a shadowy figure walked through.

"I could 'ave sworn il venait ici." A feminine voice spoke up as the shadowy figure disenchanted themselves to reveal a young woman.

"You're not staff." Nancy said strolling over to her threateningly, "Why are you here?"

In response to Nancy's menacing look the girl suddenly became stiff and serious. "Je cherche pour M. Stark."

"Oh well in that case he and his boyfriend are cowering over there. Tony you were right when you said you have persistent fangirls."

"Traitor..." Tony grumbled under his breath as he stepped forward. "As my lackey was saying I'm Tony Stark. I'm assuming you want an autograph. Who shall I make it out to?"

"Je m'appelle Jeanne," she said curtly. "Mais je ne veux pas..."

"Oh you're that Jan-Mary girl." Tony interrupted. He was reminded of awkward memories of walking upon her howling session. "Uhhh you wouldn't to be a dog person would you?"

"Quoi?"

"Yeah Tony I'm confused." Bruce spoke up, "What's going on here?"

"Yes please enlighten us Tony, what is going on here?" Professor Xavier demanded as he wheeled into the room.

"O Fuck!" Tony made a quick start to try and grab the book he had come for but it was gone. So was Nancy.. Tony was really starting to hate her.

Xavier moved into the centre of the room waving his wand to disenchant Tony and the puddle of a door.

"Evening Headmaster." Tony said awkwardly, no longer invisible. "We were just..."

"I don't have time for your excuses Tony. You two, detention." He gestured towards Tony and Jeanne-Marie. "Everyday after class for the next two weeks."

"Mais le premier match de Quodpot..."

"You two will unfortunately miss. That is the price you pay, Miss Beaubier, for bad behavior."

"Whatever it's not like I was going to go anyways." Tony muttered under his breath.

"Ummm what about me Headmaster?" Bruce spoke up from the shadows. He was still invisible for some reason even though Xavier must have known he was there.

"Oh...Is that you Mr. Banner? I didn't realize you were here." He fumbled awkwardly. "Given the nature of your roommate I absolve you of responsibility. He probably dragged you here against your free will."

"But Professor.." Bruce argued.

"Enough...I think we have had enough disturbances for tonight. Be warned Mr. Banner I expect you to have better behaviour in the future. I will speak to you further at our session next week. Now all of you be off. It is far too late for this."

Tony was highly confused by the professors actions. He had expected after last week's confrontation, for the Professor to be extra hostile towards Bruce, not for him to awkwardly tiptoe around the boy. But now was not the time to debate the headmaster for his actions as they had just got a fairly lucky break with only two weeks detention. Tony grabbed Bruce and booked it out of there.

"Thank you Headmaster. We will never do this again. Goodnight." He called out as they left.

"Wait Tony." Bruce cried.

"Not here." Tony hissed. "Come one lets get back to our room...Now." Bruce did not argue and they zoomed onwards.

Tony took one last look behind him to catch Xavier calling out goodnight. The headmasters face was uncharacteristically cold and calculating leaving Tony with the fear that there was more trouble to come.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Thor awoke in a hazy glow. It was like the sun was desperately trying to burn through its cloudy prison. He knew the light was there, its warmth there but it lay just beyond his reach. This is what Thor thought as he lay once more on the desolate frozen lake grasping at its surface. A thick icy wall separating him from the mystical glow.

The light drew him, created a deep longing within him. For some reason he just had to have that light, to feel its warmth. He pounded at the ice desperately, trying to breach it, to form a crack in the cold wall that obscured the light and kept it from his grasp. He assaulted the surface till his hands were bloody and raw leaving the ice stained red. Unable to even leave even a scratch in the barrier he collapsed into a pile of heart wrenching tears.

As he wailed away in the cold he became aware of someone standing over him. He looked up through his watery eyes to see the form of father frowning disappointedly at him. If he was in a pit of despair before, his father's glare had ripped the floor out and he was falling into the depths of his internal darkness.

He made to speak, to defend his weakness to his father but no words would come forth. His father's mighty hand griped his throat and lifted him from the ground.

"You are not strong enough to be my son." His father said before chucking him into a snowbank at the lake's edge. The snow numbed his bloody hands and stung the wounds. However, his wounds were nothing in comparison to the verbal abandonment of his father.

Thor looked up expecting to see his father's disapproving expression but was graced by the cold shoulder of his back. It was as if Thor didn't exist. Instead his father's attention was fixated on the light coming from the lake. He drew his wand and began barraging the ice with blasts of magic.

The ice groaned deep and sorrowfully against the force of his father's magic. Cracks began to form creating a kaleidoscope of crystals. At this rate it would not take long before the ice succumbed to the assault.

A flash of red drew Thor's attention away from his father. Out of the darkness crept the three tailed fox. It appeared highly agitated with its tails standing on end and bright embers shooting forth from its body. The creature lunged at his father interrupting his assault and setting his arm ablaze.

His father howled in an inhuman rage and knocked the fox off his shoulders. The fox leapt forwards once more but his father pelted it with a series of spells. The flames surrounded the creature continued to grow against each blast.

When it seemed like his father was about to defeat his assailant the flames exploded setting much of the winter grove ablaze. Standing where the fox had once been was a massive demon. It's wolf-like features looked familiar and filled Thor with fear.

His father buffeted the beast with powerful waves of magic but they did little more than ruffle its fur. The demon lunged towards his father and struck him with its powerful arms. Thor was shocked at how easily the beast had sent his father flying. Before his father could get to his feet the demon was on him striking his back with sabre-like claws.

The sight of his father's blood shooting through the air made Thor's stomach churn.

And then the beast took his father's head into his jaws...The noise that followed was unbearable. Thor retched into the snow and cried bitterly.

He could hear the beast padding its way towards him, the impending doom just metres away. Thor turned to face his fate, to put up one last front of courage and redeem what little honour he had left. But when he saw it's eyes, the intense burn of rage, the raw power, all that remained in him was terror. He had to get away for here, get anywhere but here. Scrambling, he made to start but it was too late, the beast was on him.

Thor lay awake, unable to move. He was soaked in sweat and his heart was beating so fast it felt as if it would break through his chest.

Those eyes, he couldn't get them out of his head. Even now, he could still feel them burning into him. What kind of evil was afoot to have cursed him with such nightmares.

"Oi Thor get up!" Fandrall called tossing a pillow at his face.

Thor shot up and pinned Fandrall against the wall. He couldn't control himself, his blood was on fire, his heart was racing too fast.

"What the fuck man! Let go of me." Fandrall struggled free, " Seriously what's wrong with you?"

Gradually Thor's heart slowed down and he started to relax.

"Come on, get your head in gear. We can't have you tripping balls in the middle of today's game. It's the first of the season."

"...uh..Sorry brother. But do not spook me like that."

"Yeah yeah whatever. You better hurry up and get ready, your dad will be here soon."

Thor froze once more. He could still hear the horrific crunch of his father's face being torn off.

"My father...Oh crap!"

You could tell it was game day as the whole school was buzzing with excitement. There were festivities planned all evening around the match and there were rumours that some of the older students were going to smuggle in butterbeer from La Tuque. Jean-Paul doubted these rumours were anything more than desperate imaginings of eager under-agers but that didn't stop several of his housemates from attempting to transfigure pebbles into red beer cups.

Today was also a big deal because the entire Council was visiting to inaugurate the game. Already much of campus was crawling with the realm's elite security and most of their rooms were being inspected to the dismay of his housemates.

Jean-Paul didn't understand the excitement, he had seen the Council several times at festivals and sports events. His clan's representative, Councilman Lebeau was notorious in Ville Marie as quite the partier. There was some controversy around his election to the Council from the other wizarding clans but they just didn't understand the French, who were renowned for their offbeat culture. Lebeau came from one of the preeminent family's within the French clan, his grandfather had held the seat before him. People didn't expect a life of politics from him as he had spent much of his youth gallivanting about Louisiana. But when his grandfather died he abruptly returned to the Laurentides and took his place on the Council, to the joy of the French peoples. There had been a week long party in Ville-Marie to mark the occasion much to the annoyance of the rest of the realm.

Classes that morning had been quite unproductive as the students were bubbling over with anticipation, filling the classrooms with a relentless armada of chatter. Their professors were also on edge as it was customary for the Councilmen to sit in on the afternoon classes and thus spent the morning making everything spick and span.

Jean-Paul was just as eager as everyone else for the game to start but for slightly more nefarious reasons. All week he had been relishing the moment when he could defeat those Nordic douchebros who had been harassing his sister. In his mind he had been running an image of that asshole Fandrall getting knocked out by an exploding quod, blowing the smile of his cheeky face. He wanted to see the look on Thor when his "oh so macho" team met their match in front of his Councilman father. The great Moose House, with its Nordic stars, would look like weaklings compared to the superior speed and technique of Fox House.

Jean-Paul was confident that he could fly circles around these lumbering idiots. It would be just like at L'Academie des Sorciers du Mont-Royale, where he had once scored all ten points and won the game in under ten minutes. He had earned himself the nickname Northstar with his breathtaking agility and finesse.

Despite his personal vendetta against those jerks in Moose House Jean-Paul was most excited to get in the air again. It was when he was out in the open air that Jean-Paul finally felt free of his insecurities. Whatever snide remarks his colleagues threw at him couldn't reach him there. No matter what anyone said, no one could deny that Jean-Paul was born to fly.

There was something about those moments in the heat of the match, when he was soaring through the air racing against the clock that set his blood running like nothing else. He loved how he could feel the pulsated energy desperately trying to escape the quod. After years of experience he was now able to sense the exact moment when the ball was about to blow. At that point he had a instant to find a target either into the pot or into an opponent's face. The rush of making a perfectly timed goal seconds before the quod exploded was one of his favourite sensations in life.

The Council arrived during the lunch hour when the majority of the student body was packed into the great hall. When they entered the relentless chatter died to a dull mummer as everyone scrambled to get a good view. As mentioned earlier the members of the Council carried celebrity like status within their respective clans. And for many muggleborn students, this was a first sighting, and they were curious to see the leaders of their new magical realm.

"What y'all looking at?" Fury yelled into the room, "You punks are acting like you've never seen a bunch of old people before. Just because there is a big match today doesn't mean the world stops turning. Sit back down and return to your lolligagging or whatever you teenyboppers do. You'll see more than enough of the Councilmen this afternoon. Now go, I said sit."

"Fury you are très bien avec des enfants." Jean-Paul saw Councilman Lebeau give his signature smirk, "You're like a dad. Eh Mon père? Papa?"

"Don't even..." Fury grumbled as the Council walked towards the headmaster's office.

Jean-Paul imagined it must be fun to be on the Council and spend your days playing games with lives of the people of the Laurentides. But he was not a confident socialite like Fury or Lebeau and doubted he would be able to handle all the drama.

He got another taste of Lebeau's charm in fourth period, defence against the dark arts. Jean-Paul had to laugh a bit when the Councilman first walked in because if there was anyone who could match the lady killer it was the lady who threatened to kill her students on a daily basis.

Professor Frost didn't appear to share his enthusiasm for this turn of events and scowled even more ferociously than normal.

"Of course, I would get stuck with you." she spat.

"How could I visit l'Academie without seeing its caractéristique la plus belle?" he purred as he bent to kiss her hand.

"Watch it Remy before I am forced to disapparate your left testicle...again."

"As fièrce as you are beautiful Emma, mais is that really the sujet le plus approprié for a classroom."

"You and I both have said worse in these halls."

"Well t'en shall we give them un goût des jours good old?" he said as he chucked a playing card in her direction. It crackled with energy suggesting that it had been enchanted with some powerful spell.

Frost caught it deftly between her index and middle fingers. "Hmpf whatever but you're doing all the work." She strutted to the front and addressed the students. "Class, today Councilman Lebeau will be teaching. Hopefully his vast experience will ignite your imaginations." On the word ignite she chucked the card back at Lebeau where it exploded on impact sending him crashing back against the wall.

The majority of the class was by now quite desensitized to Frost's teaching style but a couple of students still seemed quite taken aback by such violence being directed towards a member of the Council.

Lebeau slowly picked himself up, a huge smirk on his face. "Looks like you still got'it. You know you are la seule personne who 'as succesfully done ça."

"That's only because you let me." She said with surprising fondness. "Well Remy they are all yours."

"Okay mes gamins, where shall we begin?" He turned to face the class, "Who can tell moi, what cet enchantment vous rappele de?" Another charged card shot from his hand and burst in the air above them.

Jean-Paul was impressed by the Councilman's mastery of non-verbal magic, but it seemed appropriate as the Councilmen were supposed to be the most powerful wizards in the realm. The girl beside him's hand shot up. "Umm it looks kind of like a quod."

"Ouais.. À cause de le match de Quodpot today, I t'ought it would be amusant to 'ave a leçon spécial." He somehow managed to pull a quod out of his cloak. "Did you kiddies know t'at quand on joue Quodpot, we are using la magie noire? L'enchantment sur les quods is en fait a variant of a spell dangereux et puissant. As Mme. Frost can tell vous, this spell is a favori de sorciers noirs. Aint t'at right Emma?"

Jean-Paul was well aware of Professor Frost's time during the Second Wizarding War and thought he saw the slightest waffle in her icy facade.

"Yes. Voldemort's deatheaters were quite fond of blowing things up."

"Right. Eh bien dans Quodpot le spell est slightly moins néfaste dans nature. M. Peasegood was no sorcier de maître, and quand sa baguette accidentally enchanté le quod, the spell résultant 'ad une explosion plus faible. It also had une explosion retardée, blowing up au hasard. Depuis Peasegood 'ad un bon sens de l'humour, 'e took l'accident et voila, quodpot was born avec ce spell 'andy dandy: _Expulsivo Dilato!_"

He chucked the ball and it bounced around the room for several minutes knocking things of the shelves and sending the students cowering under their desks. It was heading suspiciously towards Professor Frost's face when she raised he wand a blew it up into a cloud of dust.

"I think we have had enough of that." She gritted.

"I t'ink not. T'ey 'aven't 'ad time pour pratiquer. Now does anyone know l'enchanment originale?"

"I don't think that is a good idea they are a little young to control such a high level spell."

"T'at didn't stop us de trying quand nous étions de leur age." He told her with a wink before turning back to the class. "Anyone? Non? Well it va comme ça, _Expulso!"_ A girl in the front row's desk exploded into a fine powder. She looked stunned.

"Now vous essayez. Blow up votre pupitres."

For several minutes the students waved their wands frantically at the desks it front of them. The most anyone got was some shaking which made the desk look mildly epileptic. Jean-Paul tried to be as direct as possible with his spell, focussing like he did when he made to score in quodpot. _Expulso!... Expulso!... Expulso!..._

SNAP!

A large crack had formed in the wood, but it was no where being blown up even in the loosest of terms.

"Peut-être t'is would be plus facile si we 'ad more espace? _Expulso!_" Lebeau waved his wand and all the furniture dissipated, covering the room with fine dust.

"I hate you. You'd better clean this up or else it won't be just your left testicle." Frost looked like she meant it and Jean-Paul thought he saw Lebeau shudder slightly before his sly smile appeared once more.

"Hehe Always la vie du parti." He reached into his cloak and pulled out a leather satchel full of small sacks which he began chucking at the students with little discrimination.

"Let's move back à la première charme. Enchantez le sac and attemptez de frap vos classamtes."

Clumsily people began to get the hang of the spell and sacs went flying around with the occasional popping. A make shift battle line was drawn between Fox and Bear House. Luckily Moose House wasn't here or Jean-Paul would have most likely lost control. He saw his sister struggling to get the incantation right and took the opportunity to strike her with a sac. It didn't blow up so she picked it up and chucked it back. The problem was, like quodpot no one knew exactly when the ball would explode so the lesson devolved into a chaotic sea of pelting.

"What the hell is wrong with you punks." Frost yelled, "You are all flapping around like ducks. I know I taught you to defend yourselves better than this. Ames, you call that a shield!"

Jean-Paul was in the midst of assaulting his sister with another throw. Just like when he played quodpot he had the slight inkling that it was about to blow. But as he threw it another was hurtling towards him. He threw up a shield in defence but the explosion still sent him staggering back.

Lebeau caught him and bent down to whisper in his ear. "Shields are jamais très efficace contre t'is type de spell. Le secret is de prolonger le time de l'explosion et deflect it ailleurs. try t'is _ Addita Tempore._"

He was then thrust back into the middle of the fray. Sacks were whipping past his face in a mad frenzy. One exploded by his shoulder knocking him forward. Another zoomed towards his head before he quickly reached out and caught it. He fumbled for his wand to cast Lebeau's spell but the ball exploded before he could, sending sharp pangs up his arm.

Gaining his composure, wand in hand he scoured the air looking for the next attack. A woosh of air behind him drew his attention and he turned to see a ball about to explode in his face.

"_Addita Tempore!" _He yelled and caught the ball with the force of his wand. The explosion stalled for a second giving him time to whip the ball at Jeanne-Marie. It exploded on impact causing her to release a high pitched squeal.

"Haha Success finalement!" He yelled with triumph.

Professor Frost stared him down with a wry smile and called out, "New lesson: whoever can knock Beaubier out of the centre gets an extra 5% on their final."

"Sounds good pour moi." His sister grinned before chucking three sacks simultaneously at him.

With great difficulty Jean-Paul managed to deflect the first two before ducking to barely dodge the third. When he got back up the rest of the class was staring him down like bowl of seven layered dip. Within seconds he was bombarded by an onslaught of sacks in his general direction.

By some great miracle Jean-Paul made it to transfiguration class alive. He hadn't survived unscathed though as there were several large welts on his back that would bloom into wicked bruises tomorrow (Professor Frost hadn't really stopped at one hit) and his sister unfortunately had an extra 5% which she would probably hold over him forever. At least he was now quite adept at the deflection spell. However he still needed a wand to cast it which led to some difficult acrobatics in the brief instances before impact.

Councilman Boltagon was sitting in on their transfiguration class. Unlike Lebeau he didn't assist in the teaching or even make an announcement. Not that Jean-Paul expected him to, his silent reputation was well known.

According to legend a powerful spirit cursed him in his youth for being an annoying blabbermouth turning his voice into a force of destruction capable of levelling mountains. It was rumoured that the last time he spoke was during the giant rebellion, which had resulted in the formation of Lake Champlain. It had taken some great magical manoeuvring to make it seem like a piece of natural geography in the muggle realm and not a 1269km2 battle scar. This had involved the kidnapping and mindwiping of several top geologists to create an adequate amount of epistemic disagreement and the instatement of a herd of waterhorses to keep the rest of the muggles distracted enough that they wouldn't dig to deep into the lake's sketchy history.

He was so statuesque that Jean-Paul almost forgot that the Councilman and his aide were even in the classroom. That was until halfway through when they abruptly stood up and the aide whispered something in Professor Richards' ear.

"Okay everyone, since its game day and I know none of you are really paying attention enough to absorb anything into your puny brains, were ending early today. Go get ready for this evening and waste someone else's time."

The class burst into cheers and within seconds was gone. Jean-Paul found it kind of surprising that Richards had let them out early as he was one of the strictest teachers, but he had a lot to do to prepare for the game so he was glad for the extra time. He scurried down to his room to grab his gear, his adrenaline already pumping. The hours just ticking away until he could finally show Thor and his gang of bullies a thing or two about how to fly.

Thor had been dreading seeing his father all day. Under normal circumstances their relationship was prickly being as they were both big and gurff and not prone to father son bonding. But with this being the opening game. Thor knew expectations were high for him to uphold the family name.

And then there was the dreams. After last night's especially, Thor really wished today was over and her didn't have to deal with it. He wished he could just go and bury his face in his pillows, sleep away the remaining fragments of dream from his mind. But that was not an option. As a Norseman running away was not an option. Not showing up for today's match would bring immense dishonour upon his family. If that happened there would be no pillow fort that that would hide him from his father's wrath.

After watching Councilman Carpenter bitch her way through history of magic class Thor was sure his father would show up in charms. Surprisingly it was that French playboy Lebeau who walked through the door. Thor wasn't all that surprised as charms was taught by Professor Grey and Lebeau was an even sleazier excuse for a man than Fandrall.

Lebeau's presence awarded him a brief moment of relief, however he knew nothing could protect him from the impended doom that was his father. His mind was filled with a slew of complicated emotions, making it difficult to focus. Not that he was particularly interested in focussing on the Councilman's greasy attempts at flirtation.

The rest of the day flew past in a blur and before he knew it he was sitting in the dressing room strapping on his padding.

The room was buzzing with excitement as his teammates riled themselves up for the match. Volstagg was near drunk with happiness and was singing a war tune in a deep bass. The other players were banging there brooms along to the tune creating a powerful and almost menacing atmosphere. Hogan marched cooly between the rows of lockers, the energy of the room crackling around him. Every few steps he would bark a couple orders or bend down to inspect each players equipment, adjusting straps with almost unnecessary force and precision. With all the intensity floating in the air it almost seemed as if they were soldiers heading into battle and not some punk teenagers about to play a game of balls and brooms.

Normally Thor would have been right along with them, joining in the chorus and shouting tributes to ancient Nordic warriors. However today Thor was just filled with apprehension, confusion and a deep sense of dread. Nothing good would come from this day, he was sure of it. These smiles and songs of mirth would soon fade and all that would remain would be tears and screams.

"Dude what's wrong? You look like you're strangling kneazels with your mind." Fandrall piped in. "Come on stop being so constipated we have a game to win."

Thor just stared at him through weary eyes.

"Shhessh whatever man you're scaring me." Fandrall scurried off to join the make shift dance party that had formed.

Suddenly the music and reverie ceased and Thor looked up to see Balder standing at the locker room entrance, every inch the captain he was.

" Do you hear that?" He asked the room letting it sink into the silence. A dull roar could be heard building in the distance.

"That my brethren is the call of our classmates, our countrymen. They are summoning us to glory, will we rise to the challenge? This opening game is more than just the start of the quodpot season, it's the official start of the year. Those voices out there are pinning they hopes and dreams for this year on this game, on us. We can't walk away defeated, we're worth more than that. All of the preparation we've racked up in our minds, all the sweat from hours of practice means nothing to the crowd out there. They only care if we win, or we lose. They're depending on us to give them a reason to dream this year. For you guys, it's personal. It's so much more. Win today, we'll have proven ourselves. We have earned the right to stand alongside our ancestors who laid the foundation for this school, for this realm. So what do you say? Are we worth it? Shall we answer their call?"

There was a brief pause as their captain's words sunk in before Hogan stepped forward and replied, "Aye."

A resounding chorus of Aye's rang through the locker room with increasing excitement and intensity.

"What about you my son?"

Thor instantly recognized his father's voice inches away from him. A brief flash of terror shot through his body as he recalled the last words that voice had uttered, "You are not strong enough to be my son." Crap! Where did he come from? Thor was not ready for this yet. He struggled desperately to regain his composure as he slowly lifted his head to see that all eyes were on him. Damn it! He could not show weakness to his father.

"aye..." he muttered softly.

"What was that boy? I'm afraid I'm hard of hearing in my old age."

"AYE!" Thor roared and stood up fist in the air, doing whatever was in power to appear the strong son his father wanted. "Those foxes think us slow and stupid, they think they can win through strategy and speed. They scurry about our feet in a foolish attempt to trip us. But little do they know that Moose are sturdy folk and do not stumble easily. By running between the feet of a moose they are only a few centimeters from ending beneath them. Let us show them the true strength of Moose House. Let us honour Hottah!"

There was another roar of agreement and Fandrall ran over to pat him on the shoulder.

"Glad you're back."

"Let's just end this."

"Yeah yeah exactly. I'm liking the dark brooding killer attitude you got going there. You could give Hogan a run for his money."

"Councilman Borson, the floor is yours if you would like to say something to the team." Balder said directing attention away from Thor.

"Thank you Captain, and may I add what a fine job you have done bringing together a team of our clan's strongest young men and women." This speech, not surprisingly, didn't apply to the three non-nordic members of the Moose House team.

"There is no need for me to give you a roaring speech telling you to play hard or to try your best because you are all sons and daughters of the rock. These other clans and their mudbloods are unwise to think they can even compete against our Nordic blood. They forget the ways of old. They grow industrious and modern. They think themselves wise and powerful. But we know that is not the case. This game then isn't about winning. Because with the great fury of Ahayuta-Achi on our side losing isn't possible. This game is about reminding the other clans who defeated the frost giants, who pushed back the ice and who made these lands hospitable for all. They will regret the second they questioned the power of our people. With this game we will reaffirm our clan's position as the champions of this land. Make them cry, make them bleed if you have to. Destroy their will and earn your people's honour. Go now, youth of the rock, earn your place as a member of our clan."

Thor knew the last words were directed at him and felt his resolve grow stronger. With a quick stare to rub in it, his father disappeared back to the Council's booth.

There was only a few moments left before the game and the intensity was almost suffocating. Thor quickly double checked his gear and braced himself for the impending action.

A siren blared and everyone jumped to attention. With a raucous shout the team rushed forward into the stadium. The roar of the crowd growing louder with each step.

As they neared the entrance the distinctive crackle of fireworks being shot into the air, could be heard. An eruptions of light, sound and colour greeted them as they stepped onto the field. It was such sensory overload that Thor felt all his thoughts being burned away.

He looked up to witness a the spectacle before him. A sea of beaming young faces, lit up with hope and excitement. These were his comrades and he was going to give them a show.

A blinding light appeared above the stadium, taking centre stage. One by one the spirits stepped out of the light and took their place above their respective houses. There was much uproar around the arrival of the guardian spirits however Thor's attention was drawn to the distinctively family figure of a certain three-tailed fox. For a brief moment Kueshu stared back at him through its dark and endless eyes. Thor really wished he wasn't here right now.

When Jean-Paul had walked out onto the field for the first-time he knew this was right where he was supposed to be. The pomp and excitement exploding all around him, reminding him of the Junior League Championship Final last year. Except it was so much more, at a scale that was almost surreal.

It got even more out of this world when the guardian spirits entered the field. Their massive ethereal bodies imbuing the stadium with might and grace. The moonlight wings of Totoba circled the pitch before landing majestically atop the Owl House grandstand, its residents clad sharply in cornflower blue and silver robes. Muwin lumbered across the pitch to the pine and gold robes of Bear House, leaving sprouting flowers in his wake.

Then the two main players appeared. Hottah, its fur a brilliant mustard with antlers of shimmering bronze stood powerfully at the one end of the field, evaluating the scene with his old furrowed eyes. Behind him, the seats full of

matching students, let loose great whoops of support and elation.

The great fox spirit was facing Hottah off at the other end of the stadium. The normally small and stealthy spirit was burning with energy, its Tails billowing around its body like a mighty flame.

Jean-Paul looked back at his housemates who were in the midst of some elaborate and mildly unsuccessful cheer that compared Moose House to pixie dust and involved the moon, a basilisk and several stirring spoons. He was looking forward to putting on a show for them.

All around him were the cardinal red and ivory uniforms of the Fox House quodpot team. The material was far superior to his old uniform, probably made of velour or velvet. It was ridiculously comfortable, so much so that Jean-Paul was tempted to wear it in place of his formal robes.

Kueshu and Hottah slowly stepped back from their faceoff and Headmaster Xavier was wheeled in by Professor Richards.

"Welcome everyone to the opening quodpot game of the 2008 season. With this event we formally begin the school year so I hope you have all been enjoying the added festivities."

The crowd responded with a wave of cheering.

"This game is an important honour and the teams of Moose House and Fox House have worked hard to reach this point. As you have probably noticed the Council has joined us this evening to honour the hard work of these athletes and to bless the endeavors of all our students for the upcoming year. Would you please give them a warm National Academy welcome."

The Council rose to their feet and another mighty roar erupted from the stands.

"Well I can tell that you are all dying with excitement so let's not delay this any further. Could the team captains please step forward to join me."

Balder and Peggy strode over to stand face to face beside the Headmaster.

"Once again I would like to congratulate you two on the hard work you have done to create talented teams of our schools best and brightest. Best of luck to the both of you. Peggy, since Fox House scored the highest in the preliminaries last year would you like to call it."

"Heads sir."

Xavier raised his wand and a beam of light shot upwards into the sky. A starling fell from the sky and landed, stunned at their feet.

"It looks like its head is closer to centre line so Fox House gets first ball. Well let's get this started then, I doubt your classmates can wait much longer. Go play your best."

Xavier was wheeled away and Peggy jogged over broom in hand.

"Okay guys don't have a lot of time for words. Just remember the ball goes into the cauldron or into the face of one of those meat heads from Moose House. Now let's go, get into position everybody."

Jean-Paul gladly mounted his broom and shot into the air. All his tension just melted away as his face was reunited with the familiar rush of wind. He was so ready for this.

Once everyone was in position Professor Grey, who was acting as referee, flew to the centre.

"Let the match begin!" She called out as the pot spewed out a charged quod that she quickly knocked into the Fox House end zone.

Within seconds Jean-Paul was there his fingers clutching onto the ball's leather frame. This was going to be easy. All he had to do was zoom to the centre, with his superior speed, and drop the ball into the pot, a giant iron cauldron that was suspended 50 metres into the air. It would be like dropping pennies in a jar, a piece of cake.

WAM! The Moose House assistant captain charged into him with the force of a freight train. The immense mass and speed of the fatty, who could barely fit onto his broom, nearly knocked Jean-Paul off and sent him scrambling for his broom. The quod slipped from his fingers into his assailant's, who rushed towards the clear line.

"Oi Beaubier! Get your head in the game." Peggy yelled. "This isn't some fantasy land it's the real deal."

"Yeah fairyboy, come back from Lala Land." A moose goon jeered.

By the time he had regained his balance Moose House had already scored their first goal and the crowd had developed a new chant. "FLY AWAY FAIRYBOY!"

Jean-Paul knew he was better than this and mentally berated himself for his novice mistake. When the pot shot forward another quod Jean-Paul leapt at the opportunity for redemption. Ducking for increased speed he snagged the ball as it was inches away from an opponent's fingertips and then raced to clear it. Weaving around the enemy defenses he beelined towards the pot. Once in range he raised his arm triumphantly to make the goal.

CRACK! He was sandwiched between the masses of Fandrall and Hogan, as they simultaneously body checked him. His breath failed him and once again the quod was rushed away by the mustard robes of the enemy.

He paused, defeated, as another goal was scored due to his folly. A sharp punch to his arm, drew his attention as Nancy practically yanked him from his broom.

"What the hell do you think you're doing hotshot?" She hissed.

"I can't help it, ils me ciblent."

"Of course they're targeting you, you're supposed to be our best player. Not that you're playing like one, you're practically giving the quod away. Now shape up fairyboy you're making this team a laughingstock. There is no way we are going to win with you gallivanting about like some super star. You're on a team, remember, use them. If I don't see you pass the ball soon I'm going to personally ensure that the next explosion ends up in your face. Got that?"

Jean-Paul nodded quickly. Nancy was fucking scary. He kind of wished she hadn't decided to join the team last minute. But then again she was right.

"Now duck you moron."

Jean-Paul turned to see a flashing quod heading right for them. He shot downwards, as the quod exploded mere inches from where they had been.

He hung back for a bit to take in the whole setting around him. Peggy and two of the senior players were leading an attack. Moose House was putting up an aggressive defence but before they could steal the quod would be somewhere else passed on with ease. Peggy was so adept at handling the quod and had sent some opponents on a wild goose chase into the end zone before she doubled back and scored.

They may still have been behind by one but the goal was a nice change of pace. The Fox House bleachers erupted into celebration and some sparks of light were shot forward.

The quod was now in the hands of that douchebag who had violated his sister. Jean-Paul honed in on his target and bolted towards him. Fandrall was about to score but as he dropped the quod into the pot Jean-Paul intercepted the goal with a mocking smile.

Shifting back into his normal routine he dodged over to the clear line. Seeing Fandrall and his goons gaining on him, he remembered Nancy's threat and tossed her the quod. This didn't stop his assailants who continued to barrel towards him. Jean-Paul waited till the last second before slipping off his broom leaving his opponents to crash into each other above him.

Avoiding the crash, he hurtled towards the ground, the wind tearing at his robes. Like he had planned his broom swooped down and picked him up and he was back in the game. That whole maneuver was one he had mastered for the highly competitive matches of the junior finals.

Nancy looked like she was in position for a goal when suddenly she changed course and passed the ball to him. He was slightly confused by this, until he noticed that the ball was flashing. That bitch wasn't lying when she said she'd punish him. Having seconds to react he batted the quod with the end of his broom.

He then realized the point of her actions as the quod exploded upon the Moose House captain who had been floating distractedly near him. The explosion sent him crashing to the ground where he was picked up by medical workers and rushed off the field. The stadium was silent as no one had seen this coming, especially not Jean-Paul, but then a tremendous roar of celebration, surprise and outrage soared out from the stands.

Nancy had the most smug expression on her face but Jean-Paul let her have it as it was definitely well deserved. To lose their captain so early in the match was a huge blow against Moose House and hopefully would shift the tides in the Foxes' favour.

When the pot shot out a new ball it was already flashing. Due to the random nature of the explosions this happened sometimes. Faced with a heavily defended pot and an exploding ball most people would have tried to knock out an opposing player. However in the wake of Balder's loss, Moose House's defenses were on high alert.

Then Jean-Paul had an idea. He caught the quod and then zoomed with all his might over their heads to the Moose House end zone. Jean-Paul was fast but the explosion was imminent. With as much strength as he could muster he whipped the ball at the end ring.

It bounced off the pole and through the ring which was enchanted to reset the charge. Having more time to act now, Jean-Paul caught the ball and passed in to a fellow player. It bounced around the inner circle as his teammates searched for an opening.

Moose House was livid though, becoming more and more aggressive in the wake of Balder's defeat. Jean-Paul rushed into to join the fray. As he neared someone passed the ball to him and he doubled his speed. Rather than head for the pot he dived underneath it. When the Moose defenses chased after him he circled back up and made the shot.

Jean-Paul was moving too fast to see what happened but the screams of delight from the red grandstand told him all he needed to know. At last he had scored his first goal in the senior league. He thought he could make out someone chanting "Northstar" in the stands.

From there things got brutal. Fox House having finally found it's groove was increasing its offensive. At the same time Moose House was becoming significantly more aggressive. The score was now 8 to 5 in Fox House's favour but they had taken a significant beating and only had 4 players remaining while Moose House still had 7.

Jean-Paul was still in the game however, his body felt as if it had been pelted by a thousand exploding quods. Moose House had only increased their assault on him and he had been on the receiving end of several devastating blows.

His bloody fingers struggled to hold on to his broom and his mind could hardly focus against all the pain.

The junior leagues were nothing like this. In fact Jean-Paul had never seen a team play as violent and dirty as Moose House. At this rate his team would be too bloody to play and Moose House would just drop the remaining quods into the pot.

Peggy was a champion though. She defended the pot as if her life depended upon it, diving left and right to deflect quods. When one of the thugs would try and hit her, quod or not she would strike back with deadly precision leaving the Moose team as crippled as their own.

Jean-Paul on the other hand was not in a great position. Three enemy players were surrounding him, passing a quod amongst themselves. Once it began to flash they would whip it at him repeatedly in the hope that it would blow. Jean-Paul hardly had the energy to dodge each blow.

Then he felt it, the slightest change in energy that marked an impending explosion. It was like watching the quod in slow-mo as it started to swell and glow as it neared his person. Without thinking Jean-Paul reached out, grasping his fingers around the near searing sphere, and shouted "_Addita Tempore_".

The explosion died down for a second giving him time to use his blistering fingers to whip the quod at one of his opponents. It exploded upon the fatass assistant captain who collided into the ground with the force of a meteorite.

Jean-Paul didn't care that he had probably just cheated. He was just glad that he had finally been able to cast the spell without his wand.

Before he had time to celebrate the other two Moose players were on him with such force that he was flung from his broom. He grasped desperately at its wooden frame, his tired blistered fingers struggling to hold him up. He could hear a great commotion about him, screams in the distance, an explosion or two. He wondered how this game had devolved into such madness.

Alas, the game had taken its toll on Jean-Paul and he could hold on no longer. As he fell a bright light filled the sky and the roar of the rushing air overtook his senses. The last thing that registered in his brain was Fandrall's blonde form get blasted from his broom by simultaneous explosions. He closed his weary eyes happily after finally witnessing his enemy get his comeuppance.

This game had done wonders for Thor's mood. The adrenaline of dodging explosions and crashing into enemies had brought out the primal warrior within him.

When Balder had gone down, Thor's worries had been overcome by anger and he led the charge to avenge his fallen brother. It had been a good game with lots of hard earned blood and sweat. The House of Fox had put up a better fight than he had expected but after almost an hour they were starting to show their weakness.

Although they were losing points wise they had Fox House down to their last members. It wouldn't be much longer until they all would be out. Thor knew his father would be proud with the valiant fight his team had put forward. Thor and his teammates were the embodiment of strength and valour. And soon they would give their people a victory to sung about for ages.

Right now was in the midst of pursuing that red haired minx who always caused so much trouble. He had a quod and was waiting for the precise moment to strike. She was doing a good job of keeping out of reach, making best use out of the remaining players.

Thor had to be careful as there was now more than one quod in play. The pot had spit out a second after the first ten minutes and a third after the first thirty. An explosion to his left drew his attention as Volstagg plummeted to the ground with thunderous force.

It was then that Thor realized his own quod was close to blowing up. However the fox had used Volstagg's fall as a distraction and was beyond his reach.

Nearby the Fox House captain was putting up a frustratingly good defence against Hogan and two other teammates. Seeing an opportunity Thor snuck a shot in at her back. With a bang The Fox House captain finally fell. He paused for a moment to stare smugly at her corpes-esque body, before a medical team lifted her off the field.

When he looked up he was greeted by Nancy's familiar glare. The charged expression she had as she fondled a quod was utterly demonic. The pot was right beneath him, leaving him as the last defense between Nancy and Fox House's ninth goal.

She charged forward eyes ablaze with unstoppable determination and he...he blanked. Something about the way she was glaring at him was hauntingly familiar, filling Thor with utter fear. He could see snow, and fire, and his father bleeding in the night. And he could see it...the demon...it was coming for him.

Spiralling into a panic attack Thor gasped for air. He tried to focus on happy thoughts: his mother, his brother. But the demon was only coming closer consuming all he cared about. He saw the Laurentides burning its cities and forests filling up with flame. Gros Morne, his home on the rock was a raging inferno. It was a scene of utter darkness and despair. The only light that remained was a faint warm glow glittering on the north side of the island that was home to the Nordic people. He tried to reach for it, tried to escape the darkness but it seemed further and further out of reach.

WAM! A quod struck his head bringing him back to reality. Regaining some composure, he looked for the source of the strike. Expecting Nancy to be gloating at him with those menacing eyes he was surprised that all that was on her face was panic. He followed her eyes to the pot beneath him and realized that it was bubbling wildly.

A quod shot out of it, grazing past his robe, followed by another. Nancy vanished into the distance as a third nicked his broom. Something definitely was afoul but before he could react a rogue quod collided with his head while another exploded beneath him.

He was sent hurtling in a daze as the world around him erupted into a fountain of exploding quods.

The last image that appeared before he drifted out of his consciousness was of his father's head in the monster's jaw, dripping with fresh blood. His mind was once more consumed by fire. It was happening, the demon was coming.


	12. Chapter 12

Notes: Oh hey! First of all I know its a bit late but I would just like to say. OMG 1000 hits! Thank you so much all of you who have suffered through all my crap. Your comments are soo amazing and drive me to write more. Also kudos to my surprisingly large group of fans in Deutschland!

Sorry for the delays lately I just got a new job so its a little weird getting used to. But I has two days off every week which should give me time to update every week or two. (grant it I don't get any more obsessed with Teen Wolf...I know, shame)

I just storyboarded the entire first book. It is going to be 30 chapters. It should go quicker now...although your comments definitely help it go even faster. Anyways I love you guys. I hope you enjoy part 2/4 of The Game...sorry but more cliffhangers likely to come.

Chapter 12

Detention was a silly concept in Tony's mind. Then again Tony had a hard time conceptualizing punishment in general. But the idea that they could force him to sit quietly in the library with a bunch of weirdos for hours on end was particularly ridiculous. No one forces Tony Stark to do anything, especially sitting quietly.

He had spent much of the two works reinforcing this point by reading out loud, in the most obnoxious voice he could think of, every book in the library, adding extra commentary to be even more cheeky. The paintings had not appreciated this and after the first couple days of frantic shhhing most of them had given up and abandoned their frames. There was one painting of a fat cherub who apparently found Tony's running commentary to be endlessly entertaining and heckled along every so often. With the paintings he normally had for company Tony didn't blame him.

To make matters worse that preppy prefect Coulson had self-appointed himself to keep them in line. However Tony was only staying in detention day after day because he wanted to. If he changed his mind there was nothing that pinhead Coulson could do to stop him. Except deduct more of his imaginary house points.

In actuality Tony wanted to read every book in the library, since every other venue he had tried had reached a dead end. Maybe within one of these tomes lay the key to unlocking Bruce's secret or at least a spell or two Tony had yet to learn. He had already finished the first two floors and was well on his way through the third. So far the most interesting thing he had learned was a spell that summoned mayonnaise. He would have to try that out on Coulson sometime.

Spending everyday in the library also had the added perk of getting to know that cute ginger Pepper better. He was pretty sure she had said she only worked during second period spare and yet without fail she would appear day after day. Every once in a while she would pop up nearby and pick up the finished books he had flung around.

"Don't do that." He called out when she tried to pick up one of the many piles he had arranged.

"Tony, it's a mess. It's my job to keep the library organized."

"Well it is not second period so technically you are not working and it is not a mess I have meticulously categorized these tomes according to my research so please don't touch."

"Meticulously categorized? Really what's this catalogued as then?" She bent down and picked up one of the books."

"No touchie! I said please I don't often do that." He grabbed the book and gave his most hurt expression, "And for your information _Cooking with House Elves _by Helen Kostyra is filed under miscellaneous."

"Miscellaneous...And those two piles are?"

"Useless and boring."

"Tony what exactly are you researching?"

"This library."

"The whole thing eh? While at least let me make these piles neater, it looks like a troll's been through here."

"Well you wouldn't technically be wrong." he drew his wand and yelled. "Hey Coulson! _Burimi i Majonezë_!"A stream of white cream shot from his wand and splattered on Coulson's shoulder.

"Oh my god Tony! What was that?" Pepper hissed in his ears.

"Just wait."

Coulson seemed surprisingly unfazed by the attack as he was too busy staring fondly at Jeanne-Marie. The two had for some reason hit it off and had spent much of the past week conversing in French about the school's policy manual.

Tony didn't get it. Jeanne-Marie was weird. Sometimes she was super bland while other times she would be so vulgar it was nigh impressive. Lately she had become super uptight. On the third day of Tony's public reading she had punched him so hard in the nuts he was writhing in pain for hours. Regardless, she was crazy and not to be messed with. Then again Coulson was pretty crazy with his house points so maybe they were a match made in heaven.

"Shit shit shit!" he panicked under his breath.

Jeanne-Marie had stood up and walked over to Coulson. He looked like he might faint with excitement as she reached over and dipped his finger in the substance.

"Mayonnaise?" She turning slowly to glare at him, "Tony, tu étais un très mauvais garçon." Her voice turned into a growl. She fucking growled at him.

"Oh fuck, I'm screwed."

She marched over to him and grabbed him by the ear. With surprising strength she lifted him up so they were faced to face.

Tony was terrified, a stream of verbal diarrhea poured from his mouth. "Oh, hey...Jeanne uhhh Wow you look tense. That's probably not good for the complexion and all. You'll just end up with a face full of wrinkles. I know this anti aging potion works wonders on the eyes, makes you look ten years younger. Which in your case would be like what six. But hey I hear six is the new thirty. Who am I kidding...Please don't sack me again my testicles are too young to die."

And then she burst out laughing."Mayonnaise. Oh my God that was fucking hilarious! At first I thought you jizzed all over him, like some kind of magical bukake. Where in sweet baby Jesus's name did you find that. Pure genius. I would fuck you but I think I'd have to wait in line. I can see why she likes you." She then leaned in and whispered in his ear, her tongue just scraping past his earlobe "I'm looking forward to seeing _more_ of you soon." And then she whipped him against the wall and strutted off.

Tony was left feeling violated on so many levels. That woman was all kinds of crazy.

"Tony are you okay? She didn't hurt you did she."

"Yeah you know, fangirls, you get used to it."

"How bout we keep the condiments out of the library from now on?"

"Yeah...great spell though right? Man I was hoping for a different reaction. A lot different..."

"Well it is almost seven we should probably start cleaning up."

"Shouldn't you be heading to the opening match?"

"And leave you here alone with that women? It's okay I saw it last year."

"Oh fine, come on over here." He dragged her to the far corner of the room and tapped his wand on a section of the wall. It lit up with the image of the stadium.

"Tony how di.."

"I enchanted a bird. Now we see what it sees. A real bird's eye view of the game." He interrupted.

"Wow. But I thought you didn't like quodpot."

"Tony Stark is never out of the loop and besides you kept muttering to yourself about how you couldn't wait to see the strapping young men of Moose House in action." He wiggled his eyebrows and she blushed. "Now come help me finish reading through this floor. We still have a bit before anything worth watching happens."

They scurried away leaving the image to keep playing. The stands were still empty and the stadium was relatively peaceful. That is until a dark figure flew over to the massive floating pot and dropped something in.

Jeanne had gone into hyperdrive ever since they landed in detention. For days she had lectured them on the schools policy and the importance of having a good moral fibre. He tight reigns were almost unbearable if it weren't for the fact that Tony Stark was stuck in detention with them.

Marie had to grant the guy one thing he was pretty hilarious. He had spent the first couple of days being as loud and obnoxious as possible to the bane of Jeanne and Coulson, their self-assigned monitor. Marie had found this to quite entertaining and several times attempted to join in but was quickly subdued by Jeanne's sharp tongue and cold stare. If it wasn't for Jeanne-Marie's annoying swooning, Marie would find Tony almost attractive.

Tony's antics had also had the unfortunate consequence of bringing Jeanne and Coulson together over their mutual love of rules and distaste of him. The boy was practically drooling over Jeanne which was quite abnormal for their group as Marie was usually the centre of attention in that department, a fact which she liked to flaunt over the others as often as possible..

Jeanne grew increasingly distracted by Coulson and his knowledge of Robert's Rules. After sacking Tony silent (which was pretty funny for Jeanne), she largely left him alone to peruse the books and flirt with the library assistant. Unfortunately this only increased her pressure on the others and Marie found herself being forced into her chair at the slightest movement.

And then there was the mayonnaise. Jeanne was livid, Marie was almost certain she was going to castrate Tony as she stomped over to him. Jeanne-Marie looked terrified that her new dreamboy was going to lose his most important package.

Luckily Marie cared little for personal safety and burst in just at the nick of time pushing Jeanne out of the way and taking Tony into her own hands. She had to admit at this distance he was fairly hot and she contemplated all the fun things she could do to his body. But she knew that would destroy Jeanne-Marie and held off slightly, she did tease his ear a little. The poor boy looked as if he soiled himself. But Marie had to give him credit not many people withstood the wrath of Jeanne with their manhood intact.

Jeanne had returned her attention to Coulson and was busy wiping away the remaining mayonnaise from his shirt. After her little act of defiance Marie was forced back into boredom as Jeanne never let people disobey her more than once.

A loud roar from the far corner reminded Marie that not only was she stuck in detention but she was also missing seeing Thor and his walking sexsticks strut it out in the opening quodpot match.

When the noise continued it became apparent that it was coming from within the library and Marie scurried over to check it out.

In the far corner Tony had set up some magical image linking them to the game. Whatever spell he was using made it seem like they were there on the pitch and the cheers from the crowd were deafening. An array of fireworks exploded before them as the bird-cam soared over the pitch.

The noise had attracted the attention of Coulson and Jeanne and they rushed over with disapproving expressions on their faces.

Coulson made to speak but everyone stared him down till he relented, "I...I'll allow it."

The teams stepped out onto the battlefield and Marie saw Jean-Paul and more importantly the hunks from Moose House. Thor had an even sexier than normal look to him like her was carrying some kind of tortured resolve. They looked so fuckable in their uniforms and Marie could imagine herself ripping them off and biting their well-toned arms. She definitely had a thing for athletes.

The guardian spirits arrived blocking her view to do their crappy little ceremonial dance. That was followed by Xavier being wheeled in like some slow ass cripple. Marie was not one known for patience or tact. He said some boring ass speech and then summoned the team captains.

Balder was even better than Thor having had a few more years to develop. The years of sport had sculpted his body and she could see the imprint his rippling cock through his riding shorts.

Balder and that bitch Peggy shared some brief words with Xavier before he raised his wand and a beam of light shot towards them. The image fizzled out, cutting short her lustful creeping.

"Holy fuck! How did he know? Xavier that lame ass bitch-crip! Jesus fuck..." Tony fumed, making Marie smile. It wasn't often she met someone who could be as vulgar as her. She would definitely need to get to know this Tony person better.

Tony couldn't believe Xavier. Not only had he dared sentenced him to detention but he had fried his spy bird. Tony didn't even care about the game he was just upset that people were trying to tell him what he could and could not do.

It was even more frustrating because he was making no progress on anything. He still wasn't closer to figuring out Bruce, or to uncovering Fury's and Xavier's secrets, Nancy was walking circles around him, and his cellphone project was at a standstill. He felt confined and restricted, like he couldn't breathe.

He stomped back to his pile and starting chucking books around.

"Why isn't it here? Why is this library so fucking useless?"

Pepper walked over slowly, picking up the books as she went. "You know Tony if you're stuck.."

"I'm not stuck, Tony Stark doesn't get stuck. I'm just missing some variables...a lot of variables."

"There is one other resource at this school that contains more knowledge than this library."

"What? Is there some like Artilian Brain Beast in the sewers?" He snarked.

"No...Them."

He followed her finger up to the giant stained glass window. The crystal images of the guardian spirits glistened in the starlight of the early evening.

"Oh my God woman you're a genius! I mean not technically you only scored a 87 on your entrance exam. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you worked very hard for that, and it's definitely an admirable effort but a far cry from genius level intellect. Seriously though woman, great idea! I could kiss you. Except not because right now we have a game to see. Come on, follow me."

He grabbed her arm and dragged her round the corner.

"Tony! What are you doing?"

He wasn't paying any attention and his wand out in front of him.

"_Expulso!_" The wall crumbled away.

"Oh my God! Tony, the wall!"

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize stones had sentience."

"Tony, fix it."

"_Reparo_!" The chucks of stone and mortar slowly floated back into place. Soon a shiny new section of wall stood out against the rest of the ancient surface. " Good now? Can we go?"

"You can't be serious. It's hideous. No one is going to believe this is a normal piece of sixteenth century architecture." She rummaged through her robe for her wand. "Here let me do it. _Deletius_!"

All remnants of Tony's meddling disappeared.

"There, much better."

"The dust definitely adds a certain joie de vivre to the whole ensemble"

"You're hopeless. Now come on, wasn't there a reason we escaped from the library so explosively."

"My you are a demanding one. Fine fine, let's go this way."

"I thought we were going to go see the game. The stadium is that way."

"Yeah maybe but I got us the best seats in the house."And with that he hurried her back off to the main campus.

Jeanne-Marie's heart sank when Tony ran off with the library assistant. She had just glimpsed her brother entering the field when the image died. It was bad enough that the live-feed from the game had been cut short but to be stuck here alone with Coulson while that other girl got to get all up close and personal on Tony was unbearable.

She would have followed them but that prefect boy was on them like a hawk. He was earnestly trying to impress Jeanne with his knowledge of the Canton de Vaude legal system and was standing dangerously close. At this rate seeing more of the game or more importantly Tony was a near impossibility .

Luckily Marie was getting just as fed up with Jeanne and Coulson's awkward attempts at flirtation. She leaned over and sighed heavily.

"And she calls me disgusting. This is about as interesting as watching two pens copulate. I think I've had enough of Madame Prisspants' tirade for one day. Shall we go cockblock a certain boy before he talks a stroll down the red carpet for the first time?"

"Mais comment?"

"Just watch and let the master do her work."

Marie strolled forward, fisted Coulson's shirt in her fingers and began snogging the living daylights out of him. Jeanne-Marie really shouldn't have been surprised but she couldn't help herself from blushing slightly. Jeanne on the other hand was frozen in the most alarming shade of pink. Her admirer shared a similar hue as Marie began suckling her way down his neck.

He yelped high and girly as she bit into his skin drawing blood, but before either he could react Marie's wand was drawn and he was out cold.

Marie quickly spun around to face Jeanne who was on the verge of exploding.

"I can't have you stealing potential boys from me, even if they are rather dry and stringy looking. Just think of this is payback for being a colossal bitch like always. _Stupefy!_"

Jeanne collapsed to the ground leaving Jeanne-Marie alone with a particularly menacing looking Marie.

"Always wanted to put that cunt in her place. Well come on then dearie don't we have a boy to creep." She grabbed her hand and pulled Jeanne-Marie close, whispering in her ear. "Oh and by the way, don't think this favour doesn't come with a price."Jeanne-Marie caught her breath

"I think you know what I want. Don't worry, it would have never worked out between you two. Boys like that just aren't into flat boring girls like you. But don't worry you can have him when I'm bored. Now where did our little toy run off to?"

Jeanne-Marie was surprisingly unaffected by Marie's threat. By now, after years of being bullied and manipulated by the two, she was almost expecting Marie to try and steal Tony away from her. But this time something was different, this wasn't some petty crush. She wasn't even sure what she wanted from Tony. All she knew was his wet frame clinging to her window, illuminated by a flash of lightning. If anything she just wanted to know him, to understand what could possibly drive someone to scale a cliff in a thunderstorm, to know how someone can keep moving forward when the wind, the rain, and the whole freaking world are working against them.

"Oh there's the buggar why's he going that way? The stadium is the other direction. Oh that smug little asshole is going to finally relieve his wet pubescent dreams in his room. Haha well this will be fun to watch at least."

Marie continued to drag Jeanne-Marie after Tony as he scaled the stairs up to Totoba's Perch. They waited in the shadows as the mighty stone door swung open for Tony, lunging through before it shut once more. Looking round they were now sealed in the Owl House common room. On the other side Tony was leading Pepper out the window.

"Where the fuck are they going?" Marie was being as eloquent as usual.

Jeanne-Marie rushed after them to see Tony's feet scrambling up onto the roof. She hesitated at the window transfixed by the dark forests far below the tower. Unlike her brother, heights were never her thing, especially in the dark with the wind wiping past.

"Move it stupid." Maire shoved her and she nearly tumbled out into the air.

Frantically she gripped the smooth white stone of the tower wall. It was slippery and hard to hold on to after years of acid rain, but luckily she was able to get a foot holding in one of the ornate sculptures decorating the facade.

"Oh mon dieu Marie! You are vraiement fou." She screamed her voice being consumed by the winds which viciously tore at her hair.

"You're such a pussy. It's only a few feet to the roof."

With effort Jeanne-Marie followed Marie up over the crest and on to the roof. The sight that greeted her was utterly spectacular. Gleaming like a jewel, the stadium filled the evening sky with jovial light and sound. The wind was gentler at the peak and she could hear the playful cheers of her classmates from the stands. From atop the tower she had a great view of the game and could easily make out the players.

By now there were not many players left on the pitch and she scanned for her brother to make sure he was still in unscathed. She spotted him just in time to witness as he shot up from underneath a group of players to then spiral around them and make a goal. The stands went wild and Jeanne-Marie did a miniature cheer for herself, trying not to make Tony and Pepper aware of her and Marie's presence.

"Tony this is amazing!" She heard Pepper squeal.

"I know, I'm amazing but you're not too shabby yourself. I would say at least exemplary if not impressive."

"Has anyone ever told you you're ridiculous."

"Yes on a regular basis. One would say I'm rather fibre-cical."

"That...was...terrible..."

"Oh come on I thought it was quite the work of genius. Speaking of genius I do recall mentioning something about kissing a genius."

"Well you'll have to wait in line as people have come from far and wide to marvel at my genius."

"Haven't you heard Tony Stark is notoriously impatient." And with that he tenderly bent down to kiss her.

"Oh shit Jeanne-Marie. Guess we'll have to settle for sloppy seconds." Marie hissed in her ear "Not that I mind, he's actually better at this than I thought. Jeanne-Marie?"

Jeanne-Marie wasn't paying attention. She had known why Tony had brought Pepper up here and after her berating herself over how foolish it was to follow them here, she had decided it best to give them some privacy.

Besides the view from atop the white tower was exquisite. It was the highest point around and she could make out the entire island that the academy resided on. The moon was nearly full and the treetops sparkled in its light as the wind ruffled through them. The south side of the island was covered with foggy steppe and she thought she could make out the shadow of a moose wading though the marshland.

The lake surrounded the island like a thin silver ring. Its waters were still in stark contrast to the raging game behind her. A loon called out into the night and she spotted a small canoe resting in the water. It remained unmoving and Jeanne-Marie wondered if someone from La Tuque was fishing, although it was a tad late.

A series of loud blasts drew her attention drew her attention back to the stadium.

"What the fuck is going on?" Marie cursed loudly.

If tony and Pepper heard they didn't show it being too distracted by the chaos in front of them. Quods were spouting out of the pot rapidly, causing small explosions throughout the stands.

Jeanne-Marie scoured the scene for her brother but it was impossible to make out anything in the sea of running bodies. People were vacating their seats and spreading out across the grounds.

"Stay here!" Tony commanded at Pepper as he stood up, "_Accio Mark 57!_"

With the same passion she had seen the night of the storm Tony ran and flung himself off the roof.

The wind roared at his eardrums as he plummeted.

"Come on come on." He cursed.

A window shattered above him and he felt the familiar wooden frame of his broom catch his fall.

"GO!" He ordered and bucked forward in the direction of the stadium, which was blooming into utter madness.

"Please be okay." He muttered as he soared, "Bruce please be okay."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Now take a deep breath."

Bruce slowly sucked in as instructed.

"Feel the air expanding your lungs, experience its energy pushing against your insides. Can you sense the internal tension building?"

Bruce could definitely feel the other guy resisting, a slight burning in his blood, constantly there. He nodded carefully trying not to let any air escape.

"Good. Now release and let the tension flow out of you."

Bruce did so, willing the anger away with every second. He opened his eyes as if he was supposed to be seeing a new world, free of Lox, but the other guy's presence remained, as always.

"Not to be rude Headmaster, but this is pointless."

"Please call me Charles. If we are going to be doing this a lot then headmaster seems a little formal, don't you think, Mr. Banner?" The man smiled fondly at him, "And, Bruce, I wouldn't worry about being rude. Unlike your roommate, you practice such control on a daily basis I don't think it is possible for you to be rude."

"However despite all your control you have still transformed several times on my campus. If it wasn't for Totoba's spell, just think of what could have happened. You're still too weak, the other guy is stronger than you and until that changes you are a risk to everyone here."

"These are things I know already. Lox is powerful, power is its nature. I know that, you know that. The whole freaking realm knows that! There is a reason I've spent my life rotting in a cell, right? " Bruce could feel himself starting to get hot with anger.

"I have spent my life fighting the other guy. Every second of everyday I fight it and yet it's always more powerful than me. Always going to be. What in the world could you teach me that I haven't already tried?"

"Calm yourself Bruce." Xavier said with surprising force. "You have every right to be angry, after all you've been through, and I'm truly sorry for that. But getting angry isn't going to change what happened to you, no matter what Lox tells you. Be patient. We have just begun. Power is indeed Lox's nature but it is also yours. I don't think you understand how much power you truly have."

Xavier was looking at him so earnestly Bruce couldn't help but relax a little.

"oh...right...sorry."

"No need to apologize. That is why we are having these sessions so you have can safely release some of the darkness that Lox has been brewing inside of you."

"I think we are operating under different definitions of safely."

"I can see why Tony is your friend, you share his humour." Xavier chuckled slightly, "Shall we try again?"

"Might as well, not like I can say no to the Headmaster."

They sat back down on the sandy floor of the soul room. Bruce closed his eyes and shifted around until he was comfortable.

"As I said earlier, Lox may be a being of immense power, but humans are also capable

of such power. Our ability to do magic is an example of this."

With a wave of his hand the setting of the room transformed into a small treed lake. They were hovering just above the surface and Bruce dipped his hand into the cold water. With another wave of his hand they were back in the Soul Room and Bruce's hand was buried in the sand.

" The human soul is actually divided into three different energy centres. The mind, the heart and the will."

Bruce listened intently as Xavier went into further detail.

"The mind is located in our head and rules over the domain of thought and rationality, the heart is located in our chest and rules over the domain of love and compassion, and the will is located in our gut and rules over the domain of anger and strength."

Bruce startled at the mention of anger.

"I gather you see where I'm going with this. To overcome the other guy's rage you are going to have to get in touch with your will, the centre of your own anger."

"In my past experience getting angry tends to have a slightly different effect."

"Anger may be capable of causing great harm, but it is also the source of our strength. Master your anger and not even Lox will be able to overpower you."

"Anger is my life...how...how would I even begin?"

"Focus. Take deep breaths and focus. With three parts it can be hard to concentrate. To begin, try to centre your consciousness around your mind."

Bruce wasn't really buying Xavier's spiel. Whenever he looked inside all he saw was the overwhelming presence of the other guy. However as time went by began to notice a dissonance within him. With every breath his consciousness became more and more separated from the other guy's rage. For once in his life Bruce felt at peace, free from the anger that haunts him.

"How does it feel?"

"Peaceful and kind of familiar actually."

"It makes sense, doesn't it, that you would spend most of your time focussed in your mind which is farthest away from your anger."

"I guess..."

"Now try directing your consciousness to your heart."

Bruce unwillingly shifted his focus downwards to his chest. I was hard to feel much of anything especially with the other guy's presence constantly bubbling beneath.

The more he strained to find something the more of his consciousness he could feel slipping away into the other guy's.

"Relax Bruce. It'll come. Just focus on your breathing."

Bruce inhaled and exhaled deeply. Eventually he could sense something else replacing the anger. It started with a classroom full of cold stares. Then his room appeared and a figure, probably Tony, and laughter, warm and hearty.

The light quickly shifted back to darkness and the scratchy feeling of his straw pallet. He remembered tears and patchy fur and purring.

A lullaby began playing in his head and he saw a woman's face, bright and friendly. His mother.

His father stepped out from behind her and immediately Bruce was overcome by the other guy. The pit of rage that had been bubbling in his gut surged upwards flooding through him.

"I can't do this." Bruce hissed out fighting against the other guy for control.

"Jest breath Bruce, relax."

"Shut up you stupid fuck! This isn't some fucking yoga class for tight-ass middle aged bitches. I told you there was nothing you could do, but you didn't listen. Oh God you're so fucking stupid!"

"Bruce!"

"I need to get out of here, now!" Bruce managed to get out with what little control he had left. He scrambled for the door.

"Wait. Let me try something" Xavier reached out and touched his head.

A searing pain broke through his mind as if someone had stabbed him and was now prodding around with a heavy metal implement.

Bruce could feel the other guy subsiding though and after a few moments he was able to breath normally. He was past the worst of it.

On the other hand Xavier seemed to be deeply distressed and was holding his head as if he had a splitting headache.

"Headmaster?" Bruce croaked still shell shocked from the other guy. Xavier didn't respond, still clutching his temples. "Charles?"

"I...I think we've had enough for today." Xavier strained out, his normally calm air seeming harsh and forced. "Why don't you go back to your room and I'll see you next week."

"What did you do?"

"Magic..." he grunted back.

"I've never heard of magic like that. What's going on?"

"I said get out!" Xavier yelled at him

Bruce was stunned to see the man raise his voice. He quickly turned and left as fast as his feet would carry him. Something was very wrong about what just happened, especially since Bruce could have sworn that for a brief millisecond Xavier's eyes had flashed green.

When he finally made it back to room he was unsurprised to find it empty. With detention he had hardly seen Tony all week. He didn't know what changed that night in the tower but ever since then Tony was definitely avoiding him. Even when he didn't have detention Tony would remain in the library until curfew, when he would go straight to bed. It was weird enough for Tony to go to bed on time but he was also being uncharacteristically quiet. He was less snarky in class and had hardly inquired about all the progress Bruce had made in the lab.

Bruce had tried approaching him about it in the library once but Tony had deflected his questions until it became obvious that his presence wasn't wanted. With the nature of his circumstances Bruce should have expected Tony to shy away from him, everyone else did, but after their exciting first few weeks Bruce had began to hope for a legitimate friendship.

At least he had a fancy new lab with more ingredients and artifacts than he had ever seen in his strictly monitored safe houses. Hopefully he would be able to concoct something in here to rid him of the other guy once and for all.

He grabbed some liverswort and sprinkled it into the Draught of Asunder he was brewing. It bubbled softly in its cauldron. Hopefully it would work. If not this one, the next. He would spend what remained of his life working to fix this.

A sound from his bedroom drew his attention. He creeped over to see what was amuck.

"These blasted kids are getting smarter every year." He heard someone mutter from the other side of the door.

"This is one doozy of a concealment charm. Hmm how do you disenchant this again." There was a sizzle and then something in the lounge popped.

"Well that failed.. I don't supposed knocking would work?" Suddenly Bruce recognized the voice and rushed over to the door flinging it open.

"Oh Hello Bruce." Professor McCoy stood smiling on the other side.

"Professor...Sorry bout that Tony... I mean, we, prefer our privacy."

"I understand." McCoy stepped inside. "So this is where you two hole up all day."

"I guess..." Bruce shifted awkwardly as McCoy wandered around the large space.

"You can tell a Stark lives here. These furnishes cost more than my salary." He said chuckling. "Hmm what's in here?" McCoy gestured to the wardrobe door left open.

"Ohh...oh well thats..our lab I guess."

McCoy hobbled in and began inspecting their projects. "An undetectable extension charm, nice idea. I'm guessing this is where the real magic happens." He picked up one of Tony's old broom prototypes, turning it around in the air. "You two have amassed quite the collection of resources here. I trust you haven't been dipping into the school supplies."

"Never! I mean no sir."

"Haha. Oooohh and I see you two have been experimenting with muggle technology. Fascinating stuff. You'll have to report to me about your findings sometime." He stopped over the brewing cauldron. "And what extracurricular project do we have brewing here?"

He sniffed away, wafting the vapour towards his nose. "Hmmm Gristlebane...and definitely moon's tear and is that figleaf?...Yes it must be...Woah! I see you just added some liverswort. It has quite the pungent smell doesn't it?"

His face then turned grave, "Bruce this is a very dangerous potion. It was developed to deal with victims of the Cruciatus Curse, people who were driven insane. You know this has the power to split the soul apart."

Bruce felt ashamed that he was being judged by his favourite teacher. "I know. I just..."

"You're going to need more moon's tear." McCoy continued as if this was potions class. "Grind it up till it becomes a fine white powder. Also make sure to keep the temperature a constant three-seventy-five and stir regularly. After the second month add ground dragon's fang and a harpy's feather, preferably from Gros Morne but one from Ungava will work fine."

"Yes sir."

"And Bruce," McCoy put his arm on Bruce's shoulder. "Be careful. This potion is not to be taken lightly."

"I know..." Bruce mumbled, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Oh Haha Silly me." He laughed, brightening the mood, "I was supposed to escort you to the Council. They requested your presence in light of the big game tonight. They're probably growing impatient. We'd best hurry."

The voices of the Council could be heard coming from the common room.

"Oh drat they're here. Come along then let's not keep them waiting any further. You know how Fury gets. And it would probably be for the best if they didn't see any of your secret projects."

They scurried out of the lab shutting the wardrobe behind them just as bedroom door flung open.

"Banner I see you've properly secured your room." Fury barked at him, "Keeping on your best behaviour I trust."

"Chairman I am sorry you had to come all the way up here." McCoy said bowing, "We got a little sidetracked in his room."

"No worries Professor I wanted to see his accommodations first hand. It seems you've moved up in the world. Stark has you living like a king."

"Un roi vraiment fancy." Coucilman Lebeau interjected, "T'is place is nicer t'an ma maison, et je live dans un manoir."

"Wait it's living with another child?" Councilman Carpenter fretted, "A Stark child no less. Could you imagine the implications if something were to happen. What in God's name led you to allow this?"

"You should know better than anyone that you can never say no to a Stark. Arrangements have been made with Headmaster Xavier and the Guardian Spirit's. As of yet nothing has happened and I can assure you nothing will." Fury stared her down before turning to McCoy. "We'll take it from here professor. I believe Xavier was hoping to speak with you."

McCoy nodded and headed to the door, "Hang in there kid." He muttered softly as he passed Bruce. Once the door had closed behind him Carpenter continued her crusade against Fury.

"I don't know how you got elected because you're clearly crazy. Project HULK should have remained locked up. I mean just look at it." She pointed at Bruce.

"What, that scrawny excuse for a boy?" Councilman Borson boomed, "I could probably break him with my pinky. I don't know why you're always getting your knickers bound up for?"

"You know perfectly well what that thing is capable of and you will not belittle me just because you're too beefed up on testosterone and being a macho man to use your brain." Lebeau snickered in the background at that. "I may be the only woman on this Council but I demand to be treated with respect. Unlike some people I had to work for this position rather than have it handed to me."

"Respect is not something you earn it is something you are born with."

"Don't even! I have had enough with your shit. I am only here because the safety of the realm is at stake, something you all have clearly forgotten. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go make sure we don't all get blown to bits today. Guards!" She stormed off followed by several security personnel.

"Unbelievable. You guys can't go five minutes without breaching ever single section of our human rights and equity policy." Fury snapped at the remaining councilmen. "Now come on let's go secure the perimeter. Banner you're with me tonight I don't want to see you leave my side."

Bruce nodded and quickly followed the Council out of the residence. The school was buzzing with excitement in preparation for the big match. The great hall was packed with students in their house colours creating enchanted signs and noise makers.

Upon entering Fury gripped his arm and held him close as they weaved through the crowd towards the stadium. An army of government agents ran to and from bringing reports to which Fury curtly addressed before barking more orders, all the while not releasing his firm grip on Bruce.

The rest of the Council scurried off to make final pep talks and political speeches. The stadium was already filling up as students rushed to get good seats. There were school cheers being chanted about and a couple illegal firecrackers were being set off. Security was quick to deal with those along with the few foolish students who had attempted to sneak in with smuggled butterbeer.

With the bright floodlights and the colourful house banners the stadium was truly a spectacle to behold. Never before in his life had Bruce experienced so much stimuli at once and it was a little intimidating.

Fury nealt down and whispered in his ear, "Remember you're with the council tonight. Be on your best behaviour or else. At the first sight of something wrong get out of there. I don't care how, just be gone."

"You guys keep talking like something bad is going to happen but I have the other guy under control." He lied. He was confused as to what exactly had happened with Xavier earlier. Until he knew there was no need in worrying the Chairman any more.

Bruce was used to being kept under lock and key, but even then all these security precautions seemed a little much."All this extensive security can't be just for me."

"You're becoming quite the inquisitive one. I'm starting to regret sending you to school."

"And you're deflecting. What could possibly be more frightening than the other guy?"

"Politics Bruce." Fury sighed, "Never get into them."

"Hello again Bruce." Xavier said as he wheeled towards them. "Would you care to join me for the game? I do warn you though, I'm quite the fan and tend to get a little overexcited."

"How can you not get excited with all of, you know, this." Bruce gestured at the pomp and reverie around him.

"Sorry Charles but Banner is with the Council tonight."

"But wouldn't it be best if he was with me given all the breakthroughs we've been having in our private lessons. It'd be a shame to have that go to waste or worse to have Lox make an appearance."

Bruce was confused. he had no idea what breakthrough Xavier was talking about. He doubted if a freak out counted as progress. Plus there was that weird magic that Xavier had done.

"It's not up for debate. You should hurry on now headmaster the opening ceremony is starting soon."

"As you wish Chairman. Have a good time Bruce. Enjoy the show."

Xavier gave him a creepy wave. What was up with the guy today? He was all over the place. Was being cooky part of the requirements for being Headmaster or something?

Bruce didn't have much time to consider as he was forcefully dragged up to the Council's booth. Carpenter was there, and was doing her best to look poised but Bruce could tell she was still pissed.

Shortly thereafter Lebeau joined them with some floozy. Oh wait that was Professor Frost. Why did she have to always wear such revealing clothes? And what she doing with a scuzbag like Lebeau, Bruce could only imagine.

When Borson arrived a might cheer of "LORD ODIN!" rang out from the Moose House stands. Carpenter gave him a bitter look which he returned smugly before sitting on the farthest end away from her. Top agents began to file in behind them filling the booth with even more tension.

Councilman Boltagon made to sit beside him but was quickly interrupted by Fury.

"Sorry Councilman but that seat is taken."

"What do you mean? What about Project HULK." His spokesperson seemed righteously offended at Fury's curt remark.

"Needs to be dealt with in the most delicate manner. Director Walters if you would be so kind as to offer your services." Fury signalled to the woman in charge of security.

"Yes sir."

"I need you to keep an I eye on Project HULK. Don't let it out of your sight."

A look of surprise and confusion flooded her face at the command but she quickly regained her composure and replied. "Yes sir."

"Good. As you were Councilman. Enjoy the game."

Boltogon seemed even more gruff than usual as he shuffled to find a new seat.

Walters lowered herself into the seat on Bruce's left giving him the most skeptical of expressions.

"Can I help you?" Bruce asked.

"You're..?...I mean keep quiet and watch the game."

He should have been used to it by now but people were acting strange around him today...stranger than usual.

An explosion of light and sound drew his attention as the Guardian spirits entered the field. He hadn't really had a chance to appreciate it before, due to his crazy freak out last time, but the spirits were damn majestic. The beautiful glowing bodies filled the stadium with such energy and power that they caused the mighty torches that lit the field to flicker and wane against their presence.

Totoba was especially elegant with its mighty wings of silver. Bruce was certain the owl looked in his direction several times as he circled the stadium before perching atop of Owl House's tower.

Shortly thereafter the game started. It was Bruce's first time witnessing Quodpot and he was caught off guard by the sheer violence of the game. People were constantly tackling each other regardless of whether or not they had the quod. It was all rather savage. As a game of endurance Bruce assumed they were trying to break each other before the quod did, but that didn't stop him from squirming every time someone made a particularly hard hit.

The explosions came at quite a surprise as well. The first time the quod exploded Bruce was so shocked that he had to steel himself to prevent any of the bajillion security guards from noticing. The last thing he wanted was Fury on his ass about the other guy. It took several explanations from the Walters lady, who was beginning to warm up to him, before he could believe that it was an intentional part of the game and not some freak disaster.

As the game went on Bruce became more interested in watching the Council's reactions than the game itself. Carpenter and Borson appeared to be living out their feud through the two teams and depending how the game went they would be sure to give each other an overdramatic smug look or stink eye.

Lebeau and Frost appeared to making bets on how and when each player would get knocked out. Frost gave a huge cheer when the Moose House captain got knocked out as she apparently made several thousand bucks much to the bemoaning of Lebeau. Their running commentary often had Bruce cracking up, earning a glare or two from Fury.

Fury kept his eyes, or eye peeled on the Field constantly scanning for any kind of threat while Walters was busy barking orders to whoever would listen.

Most curious of all was Boltagon whose reaction remained constant throughout the whole game. A plain expression at all times he was like a statue, a freaky statue.

"Calisse!" Lebeau cursed as the fattest player rocketed into the ground. Bruce noticed a sack of coins being exchanged between him and Frost.

This was followed quickly by some hard hits that crippled most of the remaining players. Bruce was able to see Nancy taunting Thor over the pot. They was some kind of exchange between them and then she somehow managed to get past him and score. Fox house went wild and Borson looked flabbergasted.

"Wow some 'strong' norseman you've raised there." Carpenter mocked in his general direction. This led to some snickers from the peanut gallery behind them.

Then something went afoul, at least according to the unified gasp that erupted from the stadium, as the pot began began shooting quods at Thor.

Before he knew it Nancy was charging towards him.

"Bruce get on, now!" She yelled reaching towards him.

Walters quickly grabbed hold of Nancy's broom and draew her wand. "What do you think you are doing?"

"What does it look like?" Nancy snarked back bitterly, "Getting him out of here. Now let's go."

She grabbed Bruce and yanked him onto the broom. He struggled to get a stable grip. Walters looked like she was going to stop them when a rogue quod crashed into the booth exploding in Carpenters face.

There was a scream and the broom spiralled out of control for a second before Nancy regained her grip and shot onwards.

Bruce had never flown before and the sensation of just dangling there as they soared through the air was overwhelming. It made him nauseous or was that because of the explosion? He cautiously opened his eyes to witness the chaos enveloping the stadium.

Rogue quods were flying everywhere pelting the stands with explosions. The Council's booth was crumbling to the ground as more and more of its supports were blasted out from underneath it. Bruce scrambled to make out their figures. The Council and their scourge of guards appeared to be attempting to fight back and shields were being drawn everywhere as people tried to evacuate.

Boom! An quod exploded inches from his left blasting them to the side.

"Be careful Bruce!" Nancy called to him, "I'm going to get you out of this. Whatever happens just hold on tight."

They cut through the night, dodging quods left and right. Nancy was a pro but the onslaught was relentless. She wove through the carnage zipping this way and that. Bruce lost his sense of direction as they turned and swerved, dipped and dove, and wound around hazards and debris. For all he knew they were probably upside down the majority of the time.

A quod clipped the broom knocking them off. Bruce cried as he fell, the other guy's survival instincts kicking into gear.

"No! Not here. Not now." He panicked trying to prevent a transformation.

He felt someone grab his hand and opened his eyes to see Nancy struggling to keep the broom in the air.

"Bruce I need you to pull yourself up."

He reached with all his might but was unable to get ahold of anything. They were plummeting to the ground pretty fast, her broom hardly keeping them afloat.

"Oh fuck it!" She called and sent the broom into a nose drive. She flung Bruce forward and once more he was soaring through the air.

"Oh my God!" He screamed into the night.

Nancy zoomed in to catch him but not before a quod exploded against his chest sending him ricocheting away.

The blast winded him and his skin stung something fierce. How in the world did people last an entire game's worth of this? For a brief second he thought he was going to just splat against the ground. Fear and anger took over the driving seat and her could feel his muscles begin to contort.

As he slipped out of consciousness he felt someone tug onto his collar followed shortly by the familiar sensation of wood between his fingers.

"Please hold on! Just hold on!" Nancy's words were the last things that echoed in his mind before everything was consumed by rage.


End file.
